A Place To Call Home
by PD31
Summary: Sequel to iSwitch Schools. After completing their freshman year the gang are back at Hollywood Arts for the new school year. New friends will arrive and new challenges will confront them. Pairings include established Bade (Beck/Jade), now established Caddie (Cat/Freddie). Friendships include Cade, Jedi and Seddie.
1. Chapter 1

A Place To Call Home

By PD31  
Disclaimer: I _still _don't own iCarly, Victorious, any of the episodes or any of the characters.  
Rating: T  
Pairings: Established Bade (Beck/Jade), future Caddie (Cat/Freddie). Friendships include Cade, Jedi and Seddie.  
Summary: Sequel to iSwitch Schools. After completing their freshman year the gang are back at Hollywood Arts for the new school year. New friends will arrive and new challenges will confront them.

**AN: Hello everyone and welcome to the next phase in the lives of our heroes at Hollywood Arts. I hope that you all enjoy this part of the story, which will, during the school year, catch up with the start of Victorious (just as the series itself is, before its time, ending). I will be rejigging the order of some of the episodes to suit the story but hopefully you will all enjoy that when I get to it.**

* * *

Chapter 1

_Benson Residence, Hollywood Hills, Los Angeles_

_Thursday, 27th August 2009_

It was around seven p.m. on a lovely August day in Los Angeles. Mother and son sat in front of the television in their living room in the Benson family home. The tranquil peace, however, was about to be broken by an unexpected knock on the door.

"Oh, who is _that _calling so late?" Marissa Benson wondered aloud.

"I'll have a look," her son Freddie volunteered, rolling his eyes slightly at his mother's definition of "late" as he rose to answer the summons.

He was surprised to see a girl with dirty blonde hair wearing a yellow T-shirt, grey shorts and a cheeky, mischievous smile stood in front of him.

"'Sup Fredward?" Samantha Puckett asked in a light tone.

"Sam!" he exclaimed and eagerly drew his friend into a big hug. She had to briefly suppress her natural urge to slug someone for doing that to her but having done so she readily returned his embrace. "What are you doing here?" he asked when he released her.

"I'm here to see you, you nub!" she laughed and gave his arm a surprisingly gentle punch. He gave her an _I know THAT_ expression and she just grinned at him, enjoying the chance to tease and goad him the way she used to when they lived in Seattle, though without the underlying malevolence that she had always possessed back in those days.

"I'll tell you if I can have ice cream," she offered.

Freddie looked back inside. "Mom, I'm going for ice cream with Sam."

"But it's so late Freddie!" she complained.

"Mom, it's barely seven," he complained before adding in a steelier voice, "I'm going for ice cream, I won't be _too_ late." He turned to the teenage girl. "Let me just grab my wallet." He dashed up to his room, picked up his money, returned downstairs, slipped on some shoes and turned to the door, where his friend and mother seemed to be engaged in a stare-off. "Let's go Sam," he suggested and, leading her by the arm, set off down the driveway. "Bye mom," he called back.

"Wow, look at you all grown up and standing up to your mom," she said with a blend of teasing and… was that _pride_ in her voice towards him?

"Yeah, that's something I learned from Lindsey," he explained. _Not the only thing I learned from her_, he thought a little grimly.

"She still doesn't like me," the blonde said conversationally as they headed down the road to the local Freezie Queen.

"You _know_ it's nothing personal; she doesn't like too many people – and she _really_ doesn't like my girlfriend," he reassured her.

"Yeah but she never liked me in Seattle either, and coming out of jail… I can see why she doesn't want little Freddiekins hanging around with me," she teased, tickling his midriff through his shirt. He tried to swat her hands away with his own, drawing a laugh from the little blonde as he did.

Freddie held open the door to the ice cream parlour and the girl made her way through it; he followed her and they sat at a free table, waiting for a server to come over.

"I tried to call you all summer," he told her after they had ordered.

"Uh," the dirty-blonde grimaced as she reminisced, "my mom stole my phone and gave it to some hobo in exchange for a bottle of wine."

"Well I'm getting a new one soon, you could have my old one," he offered.

"This one?" she smirked as she waved his G5 at him.

Freddie felt in the pocket of his shorts; discovering it was empty he closed his brown eyes and blew a long breath out of his nose. Sam slid the phone across the table to him.

"I'm not that girl anymore," she insisted before grinning, "but it's still fun to mess with you now and again."

"So what _are_ you doing here, Sam?" he asked after their mutual chuckles subsided.

"Well I got kicked out of Ridgeway for… what put me in juvie," she admitted with a hint of sadness, shame, regret and remorse, "and no school in Seattle would take me after I got out so I was home-schooled by my mom for the last few months; can you believe that?"

"I can't believe you learnt much that they'd teach you in a regular school," Freddie half-admitted and half-laughed at the thought of Pam Puckett teaching her daughter _anything_ that would be useful in later life.

"Like _you_ go to a regular school?" she challenged lightly.

"Very true," he conceded.

She nodded grimly as she continued her story. "Then mom hooked up with her latest loser and they decided that we were moving down here, so here I am… though," and Freddie's brief look of delight fell as quickly as it had grown, "loser guy wants to wind up in Vegas so I guess we're headed there in a few days." Then, changing the subject, she asked, "So where are all your buds? Where's _lover-girl_? I wanna meet that girl and see what's wrong with her! I was only kidding," she added quickly and in a surprisingly apologetic tone as his face dropped.

"Lindsey's just been on vacation with her family," he explained, "Mom and I were away before they went, she came back a few days ago and she's been… distant towards me ever since, even more so than before the holidays. Thank you," he looked to the server who deposited their ice creams and gave the late-teenage girl a smile. "I'm worried, Sam," he admitted in a hollow whisper.

She gave him a sympathetic look and a wan smile. "Well it's never good at the time but if she decides that she wants things to be over between you then I guess you have no choice but to accept it, take a little time and then move on." Then she brightened, "I mean it's not like most kids our age get into life-long relationships is it?"

"No," he conceded, "but it's just got that extra significance with…" his voice dropped even lower and he bowed his head, she could barely hear his next words as he spoke them to the table, "with her being my first and all." Sam was surprised that his voice sounded as if it was, for some reason, filled with shame.

She gave him a confused look. "But you dated Valerie and… and Cat."

"I did," he confirmed.

Still bewildered, the blonde tried again. "I thought you _kissed_ Valerie and Cat."

"_I_ _did_," he tried to emphasise that there was more to it than she was thinking.

She gaped as realisation suddenly dawned. "You _slept_ with her?" she yelped.

"Shhh!" he implored, looking around and thankful that nobody turned to eavesdrop on their conversation.

"Sorry Freddie, but you _seriously_ slept with her?" Sam's eyes bulged with astonishment. "Dude, you're like fifteen!"

"Thank you Sam, I was there on my last birthday," he replied flippantly.

"I… I… wow dude, I never expected _you_ to get laid before I did," cutting through her amazement she sounded almost impressed.

"How do you think _I_ feel?" he asked grimly.

"Were you… were you… you know… safe?" she asked.

"Yes," he sighed, "she thought of that. She thought of _everything_… except how it would affect me."

"What do you mean?" Sam was confused again.

"You said it yourself, Sam, I'm fifteen years old; I'm still a boy. I wasn't ready for that to happen! But she wanted it so she got me a little drunk back at her place after the Prom we went to and the next morning, there I was in her bed and she was ready to go again and wasn't going to take no for an answer." Sam narrowed her eyes at this detail; Freddie, who was glancing off into space while he composed his thoughts, didn't notice this. "I freaked out over the whole thing for _weeks_ afterwards and now I don't know what's going on with her at all. My head's just…" he shrugged, "all over the place at the moment."

"You got drunk _and_ laid? Wow Freddie, you've grown up since Seattle!" Her tone turned from impressed to sympathetic as she continued, "So how do you feel now?" with a note of caution in her question; the cogs were turning in the streetwise girl's brain; Freddie may not have been willing to use "the R word" but it sure sounded like it to her, especially the morning after.

"I'm ok, I guess," he shrugged a little helplessly. "It took me a while to process what had happened but I guess all I can do now is put it down to experience; it's not like I can get it back is it?"

She nodded in grim understanding of his comment. He continued,

"Things got a little strained between Lindsey and me after I came back from Seattle at Spring Break; she seemed to be getting a bit… jealous I guess of my friendships with you, Cat, Jade, and Carly." He noted the blonde's smile dropped for a second and a slightly pained look crept across her face at the mention of her brunette former best friend. "Whether that motivated her I don't know. But we're still together and were getting back on track before term ended and early on during the summer."

"Have you… have you done it again?"

"Not since that morning," he admitted, "we've not had that sort of privacy since."

"Would you if she wanted a repeat?"

He turned to his plate and busied himself in his ice cream while he contemplated his response; the blonde hoodlum waited with unusual patience for him to formulate his reply.

"I've thought a _lot_ about it over the last few weeks," he began slowly, "and… if she told me she had the place to herself and wanted me over now? I think I'd go." He nodded. "I guess it's a part of our relationship now."

She smiled her understanding but, wanting a more comfortable topic of conversation, she changed the subject; they began talking about his classes and his other friends. Eventually they were done so Freddie paid for their treats and they left.

"_And here's to you, Mrs Robinson_," Sam began singing as they walked. Freddie glared at her so she turned to him with an innocent smile. "What? My mom's a big fan of that movie."

"Well we both know _you'll_ never be a graduate," he teased back at her and gave her a playful shove to the shoulder. The two friends shared another laugh as they continued their walk back to his home.

"Hey, will you be around tomorrow?" he asked. "A group of us are heading to the beach; you could meet my friends."

"Meet some people who like you… hmm," she grinned as she made a show of mulling it over. "I really wish I could but my mom's already made plans for us for tomorrow. Now was pretty much the only time I could see you; I snuck out while she and loser boy were drunk and pulling a you-and-Lindsey," she pulled a disgusted face at the thought of her mother in that sort of a situation.

"Do you _have_ to keep going on about it?" he complained.

The girl reached for his cheek and pinched it before tugging it playfully with a broad smile on her face. "Aw, how _cute_ that after all these years you _still_ ask me that!" She let him go and her voice turned serious. "I'll call when we wind up somewhere for more than one night," she told him and stood on tiptoes so she could kiss his cheek, a gesture that surprised the brown-haired boy. He pulled her into a hug and she eagerly wrapped her arms around him; part of her suddenly felt like she wished he would never let go. _It's strange_, the blonde mused, _after all this time to feel like I'm _wanted_ by someone, even as a friend_…especially_ as a friend_.

The two had arrived at his front door. Freddie tried it, only to find that it was locked.

"I don't have my key and mom's probably gone to bed if she's locked up," he lamented. "She's gonna be _wazzed_ off when I get her up to let me in."

"Step aside, mama's got this one." Sam gently nudged him out of the way and bent down by the lock, having withdrawn a paperclip from her pocket.

"See?" she asked when the lock clicked open a few seconds later. "Child's play."

"I need to learn that; it could come in useful," he commented. Sam gave him a conspiratorial grin.

Five minutes later Freddie could easily pick the lock himself.

_Valentine Residence, Hollywood Hills, Los Angeles_

Cat was lying on her bed with her pearphone pressed to her ear as she and Jade chatted. The red velvet-haired girl was glad to be home again after a busy summer. The family had been up to Idaho at the start of the month to take her brother to what she called the "Special Hospital" where he was secure and could receive treatment for his "issues". After spending a few days up there getting him settled she and her parents had been to Cancun for some much-needed relaxation time. She had missed her friends over the last few weeks, particularly Freddie who had gone away earlier and not returned until she was about to leave, so she hadn't seen the brown-haired boy all summer; it was something she was eager to correct the next day.

The bubbly girl talked animatedly about her adventures over the past few weeks and her gothic best friend listened as attentively as she could to her long-winded tales, adding some comments from her own summer (most of which had been spent in Beck's company when her actor boyfriend hadn't been visiting family in Canada). Jade and her mother hadn't been away this summer but were hoping to do so for a little while over Christmas this year instead.

"So are we still on for the beach tomorrow?" Cat asked in a hopeful tone.

"Yes, Beck and I are going to be there," the brunette confirmed. "André, Eli and Robbie are all still away somewhere though; I don't know where. We'll meet you and Freddie at the bus stop – you are still heading to his place before we go right?"

"Uh yeah, he texted me the deets a couple of days ago; I can't wait," she giggled.

Jade smiled patiently at her friend's excitement. "See you tomorrow Cat."

_Friday, 28__th__ August 2009._

Cat almost bounced her way to Freddie's house after breakfast; the little red-head greeted him with a hug and began talking excitedly about their planned trip to the beach. Freddie took her bag from her and carried it along with his own, containing his sunblock and beach towels, and the two walked to the bus stop where Jade and Beck were waiting to greet them.

"Hey, Lindsey not with you?" Beck asked, surprised by the blonde's absence.

"No, she said she couldn't make it today," Freddie shook his head as a new wave of unease over the state of his relationship began to wash over him. "Uh, a little over-dressed aren't you there Jade?" Unlike the others, clad in shorts and T-shirts, the gothic girl was dressed in a black, long-sleeved shirt and black jeans.

"I burn," she scowled, "I don't like to burn."

"I have sun-block," he offered, drawing a bottle from his bag and waving it at her, "I'm sure you can find a willing volunteer to rub some on you," he smiled at Beck.

"She threatened to break my hand if I tried," the long-haired Canadian told him.

"It was no threat," she whispered with a malevolent smile.

The bus arrived to carry the four teenagers to Venice Beach. They disembarked after the lengthy journey and hit the soft, warm, white sand. Freddie stretched his legs for a couple of minutes before finding a secluded spot to spread his beach towels. Jade did likewise with hers and Beck's and the two sat down while the tall actor went for ice creams; Cat, as usual, had rushed off to splash in the Pacific Ocean.

"You _sure_ you're not too hot?" the tech producer asked her as the sun poured down on them.

"Do _you_ think I'm too hot?" she replied in a coy tone, flashing him a wink before giving him a mischievous smile. "Will it make you happy if I strip off?" His face immediately flushed at the suggestion as he remembered again his night in his girlfriend's bed. "Hey, I was kidding," she apologised, correctly guessing exactly what he was thinking of as she saw his increasing discomfort, "I actually have good reason for keeping covered up right about now," she admitted in a whisper.

"Oh?"

She rolled up her right sleeve and proffered her forearm; he couldn't help but notice the new addition, a star-shaped tattoo on her inner forearm.

"You like it?"

He made something of a face. "It looks good but…" he debated his choice of wording as she raised her eyebrows wondering what he was about to say, "I think you have lovely skin to start with; I just don't get the urge to cover it with ink."

She turned from him and began watching Cat leaping boisterously around in the water as she pondered his words.

"Is there a story behind it?"

"Not really, I wanted a tattoo and went for a star."

A thought suddenly struck the young man, "I thought you had to be eighteen before you could get a tat?"

"Yeah, you're supposed to be eighteen before you do _a lot_ of stuff in California," she retorted with a knowing look.

"Touché," he grumbled before nonchalantly stripping his shirt and beginning to apply sun-block, much to the delight of a group of teenage girls who had just arrived and decided to claim a patch of sand nearby.

Jade glared at the newcomers for a few seconds before turning back to her friend; she watched in amusement as he rolled onto his front and attempted to smear the oil over his back.

"Oh here," she sighed at his continued struggles and took the bottle from him, emptying some onto her hands before slapping them on his back. He relaxed into her touch and gave an involuntary shiver as she massaged his back with the cool liquid. She grinned uncomfortably, torn between enjoying his reaction and feeling that she was enjoying it _too_ much.

"Your turn?" he smiled once she had finished as he turned to face her and took the bottle from her. The brunette was confronted with a view of his bare chest; she could see the effects of the gym membership André had given him for his birthday beginning to bear fruit.

"I told my _boyfriend_ that I'd break his hand if he tried; what do you think I'd do to you?" she growled, meeting his eyes and trying determinedly to reclaim control over the situation.

"Do you _really_ want me to go there?" he laughed before setting the bottle down, slipping his sunglasses back on and lying on his back. Jade grinned at the flirtatious banter they had shared, reflecting on how she wished Beck would act like that a little more often. She watched him for a second too long before pushing her book to one side and copying his pose while she waited for her boyfriend to return.

As it turned out she wouldn't have long to wait; Beck was making his return and watched in something close to amazement as his girlfriend willingly rubbed sunblock into their friend and seemed to be enjoying his company. He pushed the uncomfortable thoughts forming from his mind, rationalising that Jade was dating him and that Freddie had a girlfriend (though unlike Jade he didn't know just how far their relationship had gone) and made his way over to the pair, four ice creams in his hands.

"Thanks," Freddie accepted the treat, as did Jade. Beck sat down next to his girlfriend and began to eat, setting Cat's down in what little shade they had in an attempt to keep it cool for when the girl returned from the sea.

Freddie caught the red-haired girl looking in their direction and waved, motioning her to come over and pointing to his ice cream. She waved back and began rushing from the water and almost sprinting up the beach. The girl dropped her sandals at the foot of her towel and removed her T-shirt and shorts to display a pale blue bikini, much to Freddie's admiration as she flopped down next to him on her towel. He took her ice cream from Beck and handed it to her; she squealed slightly as she took a mouthful of the cold sweet.

"Do you have any more sunblock?" the excited girl asked the tech producer after they had finished; she was beginning to feel the effects of the sun on her bare skin.

"Yeah, right here," he produced a bottle. "Beck?" he turned to the actor, "you need any?"

The Canadian nodded the affirmative and Freddie tossed him another bottle. He followed Freddie's lead in removing his shirt, earning the group even more admiration from the knot of girls sat close by.

"Freddie, can you help me with this?" Cat asked sweetly, giving him a look with puppy dog eyes. He smiled and began to do for the girl what Jade had earlier done for him. She smiled into her towel at the feeling of his firm hands gently kneading her back, giggling as he clumsily withdrew them any time he got uncomfortably close to her skimpy costume.

It didn't take long for the young girl to get bored again with just sunbathing on the beach. "Yay, let's go swimming," she urged the others. Jade, overdressed as she was, understandably declined. Freddie, wearing trunks under his shorts, simply removed the outer garment and let the girl innocently take his hand and lead him to the cool water.

"You can go with them if you want," Jade told Beck.

"Nah, I'll stay with you – unless you want to get rid of me," he half-joked. The girl's retort was swallowed down as a couple of the nearby group of girls walked past, waving at the bare-chested actor. Jade actually _growled_ at them as they did and their pace quickened appreciably. "You didn't _have_ to do that," he sighed.

"Why not with how they were acting?" she snapped back.

"Do you trust me that little?" he argued. "I had no problem watching you giving a half-naked Freddie a massage earlier, you shouldn't feel threatened when girls wave at me." He knew it was something of a half-truth and exaggeration but was keen to emphasise the point to her.

"Freddie's a friend – of _both_ of us. Do you _really_ think he's going to make a play for me when he's got a girlfriend _and_ a thing for Cat?" she raised her voice. He raised his to match.

"_I've_ got a girlfriend; I'm not looking for another one." He bit his tongue and prevented himself from threatening _not yet anyway_. Instead he leant over and gave her a quick, chaste kiss.

Slightly mollified but still not entirely happy, the girl picked up her book and found where she had left off. He sighed and lay back to soak up the sun a little more. Jade cast a surreptitious look over the top of the document at the sight of her friends seemingly having a good time together a few yards away; she smiled at the sight.

The two certainly were enjoying their afternoon. Freddie attempted a little "serious" swimming to begin with but had to give up when the red-head caught his leg when he came near her in the shallower waters close to the shore. He struggled a little before she let him go with a cry of "Water fight!" and began laughing and splashing at him. He closed his eyes and mouth just in time as he received a faceful of sea water. He wiped his eyes with his hands before grinning wickedly at her.

"Oh it's on Valentine," he mock-growled and scooped two big handfuls of water and throwing them at her. She laughed as he drenched her and began returning the assault with one of her own. Several swimmers shook their heads in amusement and mild amazement at the sight of two teenagers acting like far younger children but the two didn't care and continued to have a good time.

"I surrender, I surrender," she shrieked eventually, raising her hands in supplication and starting to laugh again. Freddie waded over to her and gave his defeated 'foe' a friendly hug; she returned it and wrapped her arms behind his back, resisting the urge to move them to behind his neck. "You want to go back to the others?"

"I think I'll swim a little more first," he noted.

"'kay 'kay, I'll see you back there." She gave into temptation and gave him a little peck on the cheek as she let him go and headed up the beach. He watched her go and smiled at her retreating back, confusion beginning to well up inside him again as his feelings churned inside his heart. He forced himself to turn away and started to swim again.

An amused and happy Jade had watched their interplay from afar; she particularly enjoyed Cat giving him a little kiss at the end and catching him watch her departure. She smiled as the delighted, excited girl bounced back up the beach to join them.

"I see you two had a good time," she smirked playfully.

"We did," she agreed. "I really enjoyed it."

"I think he did too," she gave a sly grin.

"It's just a shame _Lindsey_ is still around," the child-like teen blurted out before gasping and covering her mouth with her hand. She looked around to see if Freddie had magically arrived within earshot, which he hadn't, but the girl still looked unhappy about what she had just said. "I shouldn't say that about his girlfriend; she makes him happy."

_Not recently she hasn't_, Jade thought, making a determined effort to respect the boy's confidence and not betray his trust. She toyed with what she _could_ disclose, thinking that some simple observations couldn't hurt. "They haven't looked all _that_ close or happy lately though, have they? Most of the last half of the term there seemed to be some issues between them."

Cat scratched her chin thoughtfully and gave a small nod. "I did notice that things weren't too good – especially after the Prom," she bowed her head sadly, both thinking on Freddie's unhappiness and reminding herself that she didn't get to go, "but he seemed happier at the end of the year. I just want him to be happy."

"Wouldn't you rather he was happy with you?" Jade pressed.

"_Don't_ try anything," Beck interjected sternly.

"I wasn't going to," she countered irritably, turning to face him, "but Cat still likes Freddie and I'm hoping that one day they can try again. If he and Lindsey _were_ to split – not that I'm looking to cause it – then there's nothing wrong with encouraging Cat to make a move is there?"

"I guess not," he conceded.

"Hey guys," Freddie panted as he re-joined them a few minutes later. He gathered his towel and began to dry himself off. "What's the time?"

"Just after four," Jade replied.

"We need to get going soon then, traffic's going to be bad and we need to be back before it gets _too_ late – otherwise… well, you all know my mom."

"Oh yeah." "We know her." "I don't know how you manage," his friends answered.

After quickly packing up the gang caught the next available bus and headed back across the city. They reached their stop and Beck and Jade headed off in the direction of her house; the brunette shot a grin at her friend as they left the two of them alone.

"Fun day huh?" Freddie asked her.

"It was; I really enjoyed it. It was fun hanging out with you again; we haven't done that in a while."

"Not without studying and learning lines anyway," he laughed, thinking back on the time they'd spent together at the back end of the last school year.

"Hopefully we can have some more study dates for you to help me with my science this year," she suggested, a little unintended emphasis on the word _dates_.

"I think that can be arranged," he smiled at her. "Walk you home?"

"No, I'm good; you need to get back before your mom complains too much," she laughed.

"I guess so," he agreed, "traffic was even worse than I thought it would be. Maybe get together tomorrow? The mall?" he suggested.

"Sounds great, text me in the morning and we'll fix something up. Goodnight Freddie," she leaned in and gave him another kiss on the cheek.

"Goodnight Cat."

* * *

**AN: I hope you all enjoyed this little chapter to open up the story. I will likely return to my usual update pattern from **_**iSwitch Schools**_**, i.e. sometime on Thursday evening or Friday morning and hope to have Chapter 2 up this week. Until then, please use the box below to drop a review and let me know what you thought of it.**

**Thanks for reading and, in advance, for the review. PD**


	2. Chapter 2

**AN: Hello everyone and welcome back to this story, I hope you are all well and a huge thank you to those of you who reviewed chapter 1. Challenge King, Fanfic-Reader-88, That's My Jay, SpazzQueen15, pbow, Agent-M and Subject87 – my thanks to you all for your feedback.**

**I hope you all enjoy this chapter.**

* * *

Chapter 2

_Valentine Residence, Hollywood Hills, Los Angeles_

_Tuesday, 8__th__ September 2009_

Cat was sitting at her desk with her elbows resting on it, hands together supporting her chin as she stared at the pile of text books and notepads in front of her. The red velvet-haired girl was feeling excited at the prospect of returning to Hollywood Arts the following morning to begin her tenth grade year along with her friends. She grinned as she reminisced on the highlights of the previous year, such as the acting classes with the eccentric teacher Sikowitz and the plays that she had starred in opposite Freddie. These musings inevitably took her to the brown-haired Seattle-born boy and a large pang of regret welled up within her as she had to describe him as her ex-boyfriend. She had let her sensitivities and the behaviour of others (namely Carly Shay and Freddie's mother) come between them and, by the time she had decided that she wanted him back, it was too late; he had started dating Lindsey, he was still with the blonde girl now and Cat thought that they seemed happy together, despite the awkwardness Jade had commented upon at the back end of the last school year. She also thought on the other boys she had dated, Eli and Jake, neither relationship had lasted long (mainly, she realised, because the boy wasn't Freddie). She gave an uncharacteristically deep and melancholic sigh, tried to put her past romantic entanglements to one side for now and instead focus on the fun side of school life – for the bubbly girl this meant her performing classes. Thinking of the academic side inevitably took her straight back to Freddie, thinking of their study dates and how he had proved to be the reason she had passed her maths and science classes at all over the summer term. The red-head had worked hard and tried to get some study in, particularly during the Valentine family's trips to Idaho to deposit and, latterly, retrieve her brother from the hospital he was kept in over part of the break. Her opportunities for studying at home were rather more limited following his return and the change in the dynamic, and noise level, of her home life that had resulted from his return so she figured she'd need to find somewhere else to get her work done over the coming weeks.

Her first thought for a location and study-buddy was of her best friend, Jade, though she realised that even she would be limited in the help and time she could offer her; the gothic girl was, of course, dating Beck and they hung out as much as they could, save for the night the long-haired actor was fencing with Freddie and André. Her gothic friend would also be unavailable for the next few days after recently getting on her mother's wrong side.

Mrs West had been furious to discover that her daughter had visited a tattoo parlour and been given a tattoo despite being under the state of California's legal age for doing so; the woman was currently taking legal action against the parlour and tattooists, while she had also initially grounded Jade for a week. That week soon became two, plus a loss of her allowance for a month, after the brunette had snuck out the same night the punishment was handed out, in order to meet Beck. The loss of allowance was soon going to prove a particular hardship soon for Jade, as it would mean she could no longer visit Jet Brew, her favourite coffee shop, a couple of times every day (she could only reasonably expect Beck to buy her so many cups of coffee, particularly with them beginning to argue a little more often at the moment). The brunette had joked to her friend that she would get them into an argument and then look to get him to buy her a cup as a "peace offering".

Cat therefore found herself feeling a little lonely ahead of the return to school and, while she was glad of the chance to get everything organised, she would have liked to have seen more of her friends. She was actually surprised, and delighted, by how much she and Freddie had hung out together since the quartet's day at the beach a couple of weeks earlier. She wasn't sure what had happened to the boy's blonde now-junior girlfriend and recognised to some extent that she was able to hang with him because the other girl _wasn't_ around but it didn't stop her from being glad of his company, even if the two of them were now only friends and she had to work hard at keeping her feelings to herself so as not to put the boy in a difficult position. Also, she noted sadly, she had no idea whether the tech genius still felt anything for her in _that way_. If he didn't, or if he and Lindsey continued to be a couple, she realised she'd need to give up on him soon and start looking elsewhere again.

The girl looked at her pearphone and pulled a sad expression; her last text had been a "goodnight" one from Jade; part of her extended grounding had been the confiscation of her phone after a certain point in the evening. Cat turned in her chair and cast a bored eye around her vivid pink bedroom. She smiled as her gaze settled on the giraffe Freddie had bought her at the zoo the previous summer and she walked over to her bed to pick up the soft toy, cradling it in her arms and thinking back on the fun times the two had shared, even just as friends when they first met. These memories took her back to the day of their auditions at Hollywood Arts and to where it had all begun for them.

Having gone full circle and starting to think about school again Cat decided to pack her bag for the next day, just in case she was short on time in the morning. She quickly completed the task, double-checking to make sure she had everything that she would need, and, hearing her brother in his room next to hers, she headed softly downstairs to spend a little time with her parents watching TV. They were keen to enter into conversation with her about how she felt about returning to school and how prepared she was for the following day; they seemed happy that she was looking forward to going back.

_Benson Residence, Hollywood Hills, Los Angeles_

A short distance from the Valentine home, the tranquillity of the night before the new school year was disturbed by an urgent knock on the Bensons' front door. Freddie exchanged a glance with his mother, neither was expecting a visitor, and he rose, crossed the living area to the door and opened it with a delighted smile at the blonde in pale blue jeans and a tight-fitting green T-shirt that brought out the colour of her eyes stood before him.

The boy was especially happy to see the blonde girl because of how much thinking he had done about them over the summer while they had been apart. Talking to Sam, Jade and the others – and even the time he had spent alone reflecting on everything – had convinced him to try and put the past behind them when it came to the awkwardness that had threatened to overshadow them as a couple and to do everything he could to get back to the point where they were happy and comfortable together. Now seemed like the perfect time for the boy to make a start.

"Lindsey!" he greeted his girlfriend eagerly, pulling her into a hug and kissing her. She accepted the kiss but he felt, to his surprise, that he could detect a subtle lack of enthusiasm in kissing him back. "I've barely seen you since you got back… we've barely seen one another all summer with everything that's been going on," he added with more than a hint of sadness and regret.

"Can we talk?" she asked, and for the first time he saw nerves and apprehension in her eyes.

"Uh sure, my room?" He gestured her inside.

The blonde walked past him. "Good evening Mrs Benson," she greeted the boy's mother politely, unusually so given their past dealings.

"Lindsey," the Benson matriarch responded cautiously but cordially.

Freddie took her hand as he joined her in the living room after closing and locking the front door behind her. He began to steer his girlfriend towards the stairs.

"Leave your door open," his mother called after the retreating teens.

"Yes mom," her son returned. _No danger of anything happening anyway_, he thought. He had come to realise, despite what he told Sam, that he _still_ wasn't fully ok with what had happened; the way he reacted to the slightly flirtatious banter he and Jade had shared at the beach had made that abundantly clear to the former Seattle native and, as much as he had come to realise what he had, that he still really liked Lindsey and wanted to carry on being with her, he wasn't overly eager for a repeat in the near future.

Freddie took a perch on the edge of his bed and gestured to the blonde to join him. She wordlessly declined with a shake of her head and instead began pacing the floor in front of him.

"Linds? What's the matter?" he asked, fear creeping into his voice.

With a deep breath the blonde grimly began. "There's a reason you haven't seen much of me since I got back from holiday. While you were away, given that I don't have too many friends at school anymore it meant that I was pretty much alone for the start of the summer – and _lonely_." She sighed wearily and continued, "I started to do a lot of thinking – about you, about _us_, about our relationship… and some of it wasn't all that good."

"What do you mean?" he asked, dread rising in his heart. "I know we had some difficulties… right after the Prom weekend," he continued delicately, "but I thought things were getting better towards the end of term, that we were getting back on track."

"I think Prom night was part of the problem," she dropped her voice to a whisper. "What we did… I know now that we went too far and too fast, perhaps you weren't ready for it. I wanted it to happen that night and I maybe pushed you into it a little bit – but since then things just haven't been the same between us. The last few weeks of term were difficult – you _processing_," her tone added a touch of bitterness that she immediately looked to suppress, "and signing up for plays without me. We were arguing; you're right that it got a bit better later on but still…" She sighed and continued her own narrative and take on the timeline in a firmer voice, "So you went away, after you got back _we_ went away – mom, dad and I – and while we were in Florida I got talking to a guy my own age, he lives in Bakersfield, and we kinda hit it off." It felt to the fifteen-year-old boy as if a hand had reached into his chest and taken a vice-like grip on his heart at the blonde's words. "We kept in touch by phone calls, e-mails and stuff, then we met up a couple of weeks ago, and also a couple of times this week and…" her breath hitched as tears leaked from her eyes, "and I really like him," she admitted.

The former Seattleite felt his heart shatter inside his chest at her words.

"I'm sorry Freddie," she choked through her tears and she bent down towards him so that she could take his hands in her own, "as much as we shared and as much as I do still like _you_… I've never felt the way I do about him; it's different, stronger and I really want to give it a go."

She pulled him into a tight hug as he sat there as if petrified. "I'm sorry," she repeated in a whisper, "but it's over between us," she finished through more tears and some again-hitching breath.

The brown-eyed boy continued to sit there, stunned into immobile silence. "I'll let myself out," she said quietly before turning and leaving his room. The blonde looked back once more at him, seeing that he had still failed to move a muscle, before she rushed downstairs, passing his mother wordlessly and exiting the house. Finding this behaviour more than a little odd, Marissa smartly locked the door behind the departing teen and made her way up to Freddie's room to find her devastated son still sat there staring silently at the wall; tears were finally beginning to roll down his cheeks. He didn't acknowledge her presence; it's likely he didn't realise that she was there. It didn't take much for her to correctly read his mood and assess what had happened; the elder Benson swooped down next to him on his bed, gathering him into her arms and hugging the boy tenderly as he wept against her chest. There would be time for questions, sanctimony and 'I told you sos' later; for now a mother held her heartbroken son as he sat there for a long time draining his entire well of tears against her. Finally – she wasn't immediately sure how much time had passed – his breathing began to become laboured; she lay him down on his bed, kissed his forehead and quietly left the room.

* * *

The Slap Mobile

Cat Valentine – First day back and someone is missing. Wherefore art thou Freddie?

Feeling: Worried.

* * *

_Asphalt Café, Hollywood Arts High School, Los Angeles_

_Wednesday, 9__th__ September 2009_

Cat was growing more and more worried as the clock ticked round towards 9 a.m. and the start of the group's sophomore year. She sat at their usual table in the Asphalt Café with Beck, Jade, André, an unusually happy Eli and Robbie (and Rex, of course) but noted the absence of Freddie, who she had yet to see this morning, although Lindsey had passed her, alone and more than a little distracted, and entered the school earlier – something that had surprised the red velvet-haired girl and also Jade, when Cat had told her.

"I wonder where he is," she said softly and to no one in particular; she had sent the boy a text a few minutes ago and had yet to receive a reply.

"He'll be here," Jade reassured her, placing her hand gently on her friend's and squeezing it softly. She received a grateful smile in return, despite the fact that the gothic girl's words had failed to convince her or quell her fears.

The bell rang with the Seattle-born teenager still not having arrived. The other tenth graders from the friendship group stood and made to leave before noticing that Cat had not followed suit.

"Come on," Robbie urged her and gently pulled on her arm, "we need to go inside."

"I guess," she said weakly and rose to her feet. She picked up her bag and walked inside the school building with her friends; together they made their way to the Black Box theatre where they were given their timetables for the coming weeks. Cat hung back after receiving hers, and making the obligatory comparisons with those of her friends, and the girl made for the other end of the set of tables housing the documents; with sadness and increasing concern, when she got there, she noticed that the timetable for "Benson, F" remained unclaimed. She drew her phone from her bag (it wouldn't fit in the pocket of her tiny denim shorts) and dialled his number.

"Hey Cat," came the surprisingly bright response; the girl didn't know just how forced his tone was.

"Freddie! I was worried, where are you?"

"Right behind you." His voice was now brimming with a little genuine mirth as he eyed the girl and saw her jump slightly at his revelation.

The child-like teen spun around to see the grinning face of her friend, dressed in khaki shorts and a white T-shirt, the sleeves of which reached almost to his elbows; she pulled him eagerly into a hug.

"I thought you'd be here sooner," she commented.

"Yeah, I… I kinda slept in this morning a little." The boy's tone was embarrassed but the evasiveness of his explanation, and him not wanting to go into detail, was completely missed by the child-like teenager.

"How come you didn't arrive with Lindsey?" she asked; his face crumbled in an instant and he worked hard to keep a fresh stinging from his eyes. This was something that not even the normally oblivious Cat could miss and her face fell as well at his sadness.

"We broke up last night," his voice was laced with misery and barely above an audible whisper as he fought with all his strength to keep his composure intact. "She came over, told me that she met someone else while she was on vacation and that she wanted to be with him instead."

"Oh," his friend was genuinely shocked at the news; not knowing the full story she had thought the young couple still looked happy together whenever she had seen them at the end of term, and had assumed that they spent some time together over the summer. "I'm so sorry to hear that Freddie." She pulled him into another hug and held him close.

"Thanks Cat…" Then, as the warning bell peeled he added, "I'd better get my timetable."

He reluctantly extricated himself from her warm and comforting embrace, so reminiscent of the way they'd hug when they were briefly together the previous year, and made his way to the table where he collected the item; scanning it he was cheered to learn that he had Science first period. "What have you got first?" he asked the sad-eyed girl.

"Science."

"Oh, me too, let's go?"

"'kay 'kay," her tone brightened instantaneously at the news that they shared a class and they walked from the theatre to the labs side-by-side. "You'll be my lab partner this semester, right?"

After Science the duo was also in Maths class together, along with Jade who they picked up en route after she had started the new year with a music lesson, disappointed not to be in the same class as Freddie again, given how well they had worked (instead she would be partnering Eli this term). Cat was glad that she was in Maths with two of her friends as she hoped that they, Freddie especially, would be able to help her with the subject when she struggled with it. The black-clad teen was relieved to see Freddie but in an instant the girl, today wearing her blue hair extensions, picked up on his subdued demeanour. She had a feeling that she knew the reason and it became crystal clear to the grounded girl that she was correct due to the fact that their walk to class took them through the locker area of the school; the ex-Seattleite ground to an immediate halt as he spotted his former girlfriend across the hallway, talking animatedly with some of the girls he recognised as her classmates – the very ones who had shunned and mocked her in the Spring over the fact that the two of them were dating. _Is this the real reason?_ he wondered as he surveyed the scene. _Did you just feed me a load of chizz last night about still liking me and caring but meeting someone else? You really just wanted your friends back and you found another guy so you can get them?_ Once again he felt tears beginning to form in his eyes as he watched her. The memories of their relationship, and in particular the misery and pain he had felt the previous night, flooded to the forefront of his mind.

Feeling his eyes on her, along with those of the two girls who had stopped a single step after he did, the blonde turned in the sophomores' direction. Green eyes met brown for a second before she turned away hurriedly; the junior felt rather intimidated by the glare of the mean girl at her ex-boyfriend's shoulder and made an urgent exit in the direction of her next class. Freddie remained frozen in place, staring after her and her little group, until Jade reached back and, surprisingly gently, took his wrist so that she could begin leading him towards the maths department. Cat looked curiously at her gothic friend for a moment, as even she was surprised by the oft-short-tempered girl's tender side coming out towards Freddie, before catching up and positioning herself on the boy's other side, looping her arm around his free one. He attempted to recover his composure while, under their escort, he made his way to class albeit he found that he had no memory at all of the journey other than seeing the blonde and her friends… and the pain that the sight of her engendered in his heart.

The child-like red-head found herself in the _very_ unusual position of having to keep an eye on _Freddie_ during their ensuing lesson and making sure that he knew what he was supposed to be doing, particularly as to the boy's other side Jade looked unusually distracted as well, dividing her time between casting concerned glances at Freddie and staring off into space, wearing a threatening frown on her face. _I would not like to be Lindsey right now_, the bubbly girl thought, _almost_ feeling sorry for the junior.

The bell rang for the end of class, signalling a short break for the group. Jade "invited" Cat to go on ahead to meet the others while she and Freddie stood by the brunette's locker. She glanced around the area before quickly steering him to the janitor's closet. Satisfied that they had some privacy she turned to the sombre boy.

"What happened?" she asked.

She listened in silence as Freddie sadly recounted the whole story of the previous night to her and bowed her head at the pain in his voice.

"I thought we had something special, Jade, I really did," he lamented. "I was looking forward to today, seeing her again, _being around her again _and really doing everything I could to get things back to the way they were with us. It looks like she's just picked her friends over me."

The girl swooped down to his side and wrapped an arm gently around him. "I don't know what to say to make it better," she admitted softly, "but I'm here for you and I'll listen if you need to talk, or rant… or vent."

He tried to force a smile at the offer, reminiscent of the one she had made in this same room a few months earlier and continued to pour out his heart and his woes to his friend and confidant, though he was unable to voice his biggest far, given that it had yet to fully manifest for him to articulate it. Jade listened sympathetically until the bell signalled the end of break and the two left the room for Sikowitz's class.

"What happened to you two?" Beck asked as the group entered and spotted the two already in their places. "Cat arrived and said you two would be right behind her and you never showed."

"We… uh, we got talking," the brunette began evasively.

Freddie noticed the look in the taller teen's eye and spoke up. "You probably heard by now, but if not, Lindsey broke up with me last night." Beck's face fell in disappointment for his friend, "I needed someone to talk to and Jade was there to listen," he shrugged.

"That's rough man," André sympathised, patting his shoulder as he took a seat. Cat slipped in to the seat on Freddie's right-hand side so the boy was again sat between her and Jade; Beck took the seat to Jade's left and continued to cast a curious eye over the trio, in particular his girlfriend and how her behaviour towards Freddie differed to the way she acted around most people.

"Welcome back young actors!" Erwin Sikowitz cried as he burst through the door by the stage in his classroom. "I hope you are all eager and – " he struck a pose with his right foot a little behind his left, his left arm outstretched and his right forearm resting on his forehead, "Arrgh!" he yelled unnecessarily, "raring to go for another exciting year of learning your acting craft within these four walls and windows."

Jade frowned as she glanced to the external wall of the class; the dark-haired girl was pretty sure that there were more than four windows on the wall but she shrugged it off as one of the odd teacher's many eccentricities.

"Ok, to start with: drive-by acting exercise. You're all sugar-crazed toddlers. Cat, you may act normally." The red-head giggled and the slight barb drew chuckles from some of the other members of the class as they rose to their feet and many began to race around the room. Despite his best efforts it became apparent that Freddie's heart really wasn't in the warm-up; the balding teacher eyed him with concern as he thought back on his moodiness from late last year.

"Alright, who wants to lead the first group of the year?" Sikowitz invited when order was restored a few moments later.

"Can we have some details of what we're doing first?" Robbie asked cautiously.

"No you cannot," he was told simply. The ventriloquist's shoulders slumped a little and he studied the floor while Rex taunted and laughed at him.

"I will," Freddie declared unexpectedly, raising his hand confidently. Sikowitz smiled approvingly.

"Excellent Freddie, to the front," he invited the boy eagerly. "Now," he continued once the brown-haired teen was stood on the stage, "choose your actors."

"Uh, Eli, Cat, Jade and Robbie," he nominated.

"Alright," the unusual teacher continued as the five assembled on the classroom's stage, "you will each need one of these," and he handed the teenagers an aeroplane-style blindfold apiece. In response to their querying looks he continued excitedly, "You will be acting and improvising a scene where you can't see one another."

"Why?" Jade snapped in an annoyed tone.

"Because…" he hesitated, "you take a lot of your cues from what you can see. Today you'll be focussing solely on what you can hear and _imagining_ the scene from that."

"Sounds kinda dumb," Robbie observed to general nods and murmurs of agreement from the class, particularly the five on-stage.

"Just do it would you?" Sikowitz instructed in an unusually terse voice.

The group obediently donned their masks and waited for the prompt, which Sikowitz asked André to supply.

"They're at a concert," the songsmith decided; their teacher then turned to Beck to provide the plot.

"There's a crazed psychopath on the loose!"

"Three guesses who plays her," Jade commented drily, causing her classmates, and teacher, to laugh.

"Ok, you're at a concert and pursued by a psychopath," Sikowitz summarised, "Freddie – action."

For the next few minutes the teen's troubles were forgotten as he enjoyed the raw chaos of the exercise. Jade unsurprisingly stole the show with her portrayal of a crazed girl wanting to silence any of the concert-goers who wanted to sing along. Soon the class were unable to control their laughter and the acting teacher reluctantly called a halt to proceedings, asking them to remove the blindfolds and retake their seats.

"Alright," he called as the noise level subsided, "well that didn't work _quite_ as I wanted, trying to illustrate the difference between judging a scene with your eyes and judging it with your ears alone… but it was a very well acted scene by you all."

The class concluded with another drive-by acting exercise before the students headed for lunch. "What do you guys want to do? Rec room?" Beck suggested.

"Sounds great; we've not played any ping pong in a while," Robbie agreed, leading to the group making its way to the room with Beck and André beginning a game.

"Hey look," Jade told the other on-lookers as she motioned towards the back of the room. "Someone's left 'Twister' here. Wanna play?"

Cat and Robbie agreed enthusiastically, though Freddie said nothing.

"Freddie?" Cat asked gently. "Wanna play?" she continued when his downcast eyes met her doey ones.

"No," he said flatly, shaking his head. "You guys play. I'll watch or… spin the thing for you."

The others nodded and began their game; they were soon joined by André and Beck, who decided that it looked more fun than the ping pong did. The retro-party game kept the fifteen-year-olds entertained until the bell signalled the end of lunch; aside from Freddie they all left the room in high spirits, something that wasn't lost on Cat.

"Are you _sure_ you're ok?" she enquired timidly, tugging gently on his shirt sleeve.

"I will be," he attempted to reassure her. "It's just…" he shrugged, "gonna take me some time to deal with it all."

She gave him a sad smile and nodded, patting his bare forearm gently as they headed for her next class, which was music. The duo said goodbye to Jade as she headed for her English class and made their way to the room in silence; the boy was thankful that he had not come across his ex-girlfriend again during the day, Jade was a little disappointed that _she_ hadn't, though the gothic girl was grateful of some more time to finish formulating a plan to make the blonde _very _sorry for how she had treated Freddie.

Like last semester the class were told that they would have to perform a song at some point during the term, this time before the Christmas break. Anthony encouraged them all to work with somebody different this time and, as Cat and Freddie had been in different classes the previous year, they agreed to work together, to their mutual delight.

"How about we do the same as Jade and I did last year?" the Seattle-born proposed. "You sing, I'll play and we'll see what we can write between us?"

The redhead girl found this to be an excellent suggestion; she was happy to see that Freddie was able to set his mood to one side during the class and seemed to enjoy working with her. Once again they seemed to be a good pair in a performing class and it was a smiling and happier Freddie who left the room side-by-side with Cat.

"Are you busy tonight?" Cat asked conversationally but with a hint of hope; she was hoping that they might be able to hang out a little.

"Yeah, André and I are going to the gym tonight then tomorrow we, and Beck, will be going fencing. I guess I'm going to have a lot more free time on an evening from now on though," he concluded bitterly; the girl's face fell at the sadness and hurt in his tone. "You could see what Jade's up to?" he suggested.

"Oh she's still grounded," and she answered his surprised look by explaining about her mother's reaction to the girl's new addition.

"Wow, I knew that she had had it done but I didn't realise her mom had reacted like that," he observed. "I guess I haven't spoken to her that much since we were at the beach," he finished with a touch of regret, realising that he needed to spend a little more time just talking with his dark-haired friend, rather than using her as a shoulder to cry on, and resolving to put that right once she had full use of her phone back (he was unlikely to have the opportunity before her curfew over the next few days).

The teens called briefly at their lockers before going their separate ways. Freddie called in at home for a quick bite to eat; his mother was still at the hospital so the silent house gave him another opportunity to begin brooding again about the events of the previous evening. His shoulders slumped over his plate and he pulled a mournful expression at the sense of loss and pain in his heart from the ending of his relationship, the manner of it – and, critically, what he had given up to her after the Prom. His eyes lost focus and he stared at the wall, his plate and dinner long since forgotten, reflecting anew on exactly what the price of putting his heart out there had been; it was a price, he concluded, that was far too high.

The tech genius's mood improved over the course of a rigorous work-out session; he and his dreadlocked friend put themselves through their paces and the Seattleite pushed himself harder and further than he had done before as he sought to beat the emotional pain into submission. André eyed him with concern and a suspicion that he was pushing himself far too far but he let it go for the time being as the brown-haired boy finally ended his regimen and lay breathless on the floor of the gym.

"Feeling better?" the songsmith asked in a light tone.

"Yeah," the other gasped, pulling himself up into a sitting position. "Phew, that felt good."

His friend helped him up and the two headed for the locker room and the showers, leaving the building and headed for the bus stop a few minutes later with their bags slung over their shoulders.

"Are you _sure_ you're ok man?" the musician asked.

"_Yes_," he insisted vehemently, "I'll be fine. Thanks for your concern. It'll take some time, it always does when you break up with someone, but it'll be ok in time." He smiled at André who returned it supportively.

_Benson Residence, Hollywood Hills_

Freddie sat in his room; his mother still wasn't home. The endorphins from his work-out were wearing off and his mood was beginning to dip again. He scrabbled in his pocket for his pearphone and made a call.

"Hey Sam, how are you?" he began, listening to her reply. "Actually, things aren't great… something happened last night," he began to explain.

* * *

**AN: Thanks for reading this chapter; I hope that you all enjoyed it. Please let me know what you thought by leaving a review in the box below and come back next week for the third chapter in this continuation of **_**iSwitch Schools**_**. PD**


	3. Chapter 3

**AN: Hello again everyone and welcome to the next part of this story; I hope you are all well and have had a pleasant week. It's review shout-out time as always so thanks to everyone who contributed; **

**SpazQueen15 – I'm glad that you loved it. Adding Tori will, I hope, be fun and make things ever more interesting for the group. **

**Challenge King – you make a point with Jade and Cat but I wouldn't completely write off Freddie's old friends just yet, particularly with Sam's visit in Chapter 1; she is still very much a good friend to him. **

**Fanfic-Reader-88 – yes it sucked for Freddie, particularly with Lindsey's "explanation"; it sounded to me like she was looking to pass the blame off onto him really. As for the bubbly red-head, well we'll see what's going on in her life once he's had a chance to come to terms with his own break-up and any lingering issues from the whole relationship (and whether I still want to see Freddie and Cat together after Ariana going off on one and blaming Victoria for the cancellation of Victorious like she did last week...) **

**Agent-M – yes Freddie's trying to figure some stuff out rather than just looking for a rebound to numb the pain. Maybe he's mature beyond his years or maybe it's because he cares too much about any of the obvious "candidates" (like Cat) to risk hurting her, who knows what's going through his head after all of this.**

**That's my Jay – I'm glad you loved it; yes the way Lindsey acted was rather contrary to what she'd felt in the past but she made her choice and Freddie has to accept it. I hope the next part meets your hopes and expectations for it.**

**Pbow – yes Cat is giving him a little time. Is she going to be patient enough to give him **_**enough**_** time though? We'll find out eventually…**

**EnchantingNightmares – thank you.**

**And now on with the show…**

* * *

Chapter 3

_Greyhound Bus Lines_

_1716 East 7th Street_

_Los Angeles, California_

_Monday, 14__th__ September 2009_

A muddy and dishevelled Sam Puckett crept unseen away from the stand and smartly left the station; the blonde had snuck onto the bus in Las Vegas (hiding in the luggage compartment) and stowed away to Los Angeles. Having left the main building she looked around the early morning scene of Downtown Los Angeles before finding the stop for a bus that would take her in the direction of Hollywood.

The Seattle-born girl arrived at Hollywood Arts just before 9 a.m.; she knew that was the school starting time so she didn't expect to see too many people around the place and was surprised that a large outdoor area (from the mural on the floor it seemed to be called the Asphalt Café) was crawling with teenagers. She frowned as the enormity of her task hit her; looking for someone that could help her with her mission seemed akin to finding a needle in a haystack. Sam gave a sudden mischievous grin as her eyes fell on a girl with vivid red hair – the colour of red velvet cupcakes. The delinquent's smile dropped briefly as they reminded her forcibly of Carly Shay and she felt a pang of regret that the brunette was no longer involved in her life, mingled with a flare of anger over that fact – particularly the way she was unceremoniously kicked to the kerb during her incarceration. She looked at the other kids at the table as she approached; a sandy-blond boy, an African-American with dreadlocks…_ he looks a bit like that Harper dude from the iCarly TV show_ she smiled, a long-haired and quite good-looking guy sat with his arm around a dark brunette with dark blue hair extensions; she was dressed entirely in black. _Oh and a dude with a puppet_, she shook her head and wrinkled her nose at the sight of the latter, particularly as she could see (but not hear) the puppet "talking" animatedly, much to the obvious disdain of the gothic-looking chick. She strode confidently over to the table and all eyes turned to the newcomer.

"Hey… do any of you guys know a boy called Freddie Benson?"

The comprehension on the teens' faces told Sam she had struck gold (and correctly identified Freddie's former crush, Cat Valentine). She smirked in satisfaction before being surprised when the brunette girl spoke up.

"Sam, right?"

She confirmed her identity, wondering as she did how the girl knew that. Jade explained that Freddie had talked about his "blonde friend from Seattle" and also that she had seen some of the old iCarly episodes.

"You haven't changed _that_ much in a year," the mean girl concluded.

"Not _physically_ perhaps," Sam muttered to herself, reflecting on the figurative journey she'd taken over the previous twelve months. "So where is Fredward?" she asked aloud. Robbie sniggered involuntarily at the use of the tech producer's full name; Jade hid a smirk of her own to serve the curly-haired ventriloquist her best glare.

"I uh… I gotta go," he sputtered, grabbing his bag and running inside. Sam grinned at the intimidating girl, who was ignoring the look her boyfriend gave her, before taking the recently vacated seat.

"Freddie's got a meeting of the school website club," Cat volunteered.

"So he's still a dork," Sam chuckled lightly.

"You're so mean to him!" screeched the redhead in a scandalised tone. Seeing the affront the girl took on her friend's behalf Sam amended,

"I was kidding; the dude's my best friend and I enjoy teasing him," she shrugged.

"Are you visiting Los Angeles?" Beck asked curiously, eager to change the subject and head off anything he feared Jade may be planning.

"Kinda," she explained, "He called me up a few nights ago; he was really cut up over that Lindsey chick dumping him and his mood was getting worse and worse as we talked… just like old times," she reflected, unable to fully suppress a giggle, "so I figured I'd pay him a visit. I jumped on a bus and here I am."

"That's quite an impressive thing to do," André complimented her. She smiled gratefully.

"He's my best friend," she repeated quietly, amazing herself with words that a year ago she never thought she'd say. "So where do I find this chick and have a _friendly_ talk with her about what she did to Freddie?"

Not knowing the full story, the boys and Cat looked from one to another; they were clearly astounded that someone would make such a journey just to berate a girl for dumping a guy. Jade, however, knew _exactly_ why Sam was so angry with the blonde junior. She told the ex-Seattleite girl,

"She has English just before lunch – that's your best chance of speaking to her alone."

Sam nodded. "Until then," she said, "I'll just look around this place, maybe see a little of Hollywood. _Don't_ let Freddie know I'm here, I want to surprise him later," she grinned mischievously and the Hollywood Arts students nodded their agreement, though Jade made a mental note to accompany Cat everywhere the red-haired girl went, just in case.

The dirty-blonde-haired teenager did as she had suggested she would, walking around the local area until lunch approached. At that point she ventured to the dubious-looking "Grub Truck"; rather than going to the window she brazenly headed round the back and went inside, much to the surprise of Festus, who owned and ran the business.

"What are you doing in my truck, buddy?" he screamed at her.

"Whoa, chill dude. I just need to borrow something." She passed the perplexed Yerbanian and made her way to the fridge, smiling as she located and withdrew some small items before walking back past him. "Later," she called over her shoulder as she left the vehicle.

"Crazy Americans," the proprietor muttered as he carried on getting ready for the midday rush.

The morning had gone well for the sophomore group; their first class had been with Sikowitz and, despite their concerns, they found Freddie in good spirits. Jade sat by Cat's elbow, changing the subject any time she felt the giggly girl was beginning to ramble and ensuring she stayed off any topics that could reveal that Sam was there. Their brown-haired friend threw himself into the improv lesson and they were delighted to see him acting a little more like his old self, like he had been in the last week or two of the previous year only better… more like he had been before the Prom.

"It's good to see him bounce back from it all," Eli told the other boys; they nodded their agreement. Jade smiled at the sight, both of the boy and of how pleased Cat seemed to be to see 'the old Freddie' back.

The gang had split up for second period; Freddie, Jade and Eli were together in Theatre History so there was no danger of Cat spilling the beans. Again the lesson went well for them and, at the end of their third class (stage management – again Freddie and Eli were together, this time along with André and Beck) they headed for lunch in high spirits.

"It's good to see you looking happy again Freddie," Eli commented.

"Thanks," he said gratefully, "I talked to my friend Sam last week and again over the weekend and she helped a little." They nodded, trying their best to give nothing away.

The girl herself, meanwhile, had snuck back into the school and was prowling the English department; she located her quarry, recognising her from the pictures Freddie had shown her a few months earlier, just before the bell went and waited impatiently as the students breezed past her. The fair haired girl's luck was in because Lindsey and her friends (she had seemingly reconciled fully with Amy and Jenifer since breaking up with Freddie) were the last three to leave.

"Who are you?" her fellow blonde looked up and saw the unfamiliar and angry looking girl striding towards her; her right hand was hidden behind her back, almost painfully balled into a fist.

"Who am I?" she retorted. "I'm someone whose best friend you pissed off… which was a _big_ mistake."

The other girls looked from the fuming fifteen-year-old to one another and made a hasty withdrawal, leaving the two blondes alone. Sam took a step closer to Lindsey and the older girl retreated; unfortunately for her this took her closer to the corner of the room.

"You _raped_ him," she accused, taking another step forward. Lindsey gasped in horror at the accusation, at the phrasing her actions after the Prom in such a way. _Seduced_ she would have accepted but _raped_? In her mind they had shared something very special, even if the aftermath had been bad for their relationship and she didn't regret the night at all… ok she _encouraged_ him but _rape_? Her head spun and she stepped back involuntarily, moving right into the corner. "You _dumped_ him," Sam stepped forward again and the first beads of sweat began to adorn the older teen's brow, "and you broke his nerdy little heart," she finished this portion of her tirade with a furious glare, one the junior girl quailed under.

"Look, I…" the eleventh grader began but Sam cut her off.

"You wanted to know who I am? I'm Freddie's Avenging Angel," she threw a straight jab with her left hand squarely into the older girl's jaw, jerking her head back and causing it to bounce against the wall, "_I'm your worst nightmare come alive_," she swung her left again, instantly breaking her foe's nose, sending some drops of blood spraying across Lindsey's left cheek and onto the nearby table and carpet. Finally Sam brought her right hand from behind her back, grinning evilly at her terrified quarry, "and _this_ is my butter sock…"

As Jade left school and surveyed the Asphalt Café she saw that Freddie sat with their mutual friends chatting happily and animatedly but noted that there was no sign of his blonde visitor. She frowned slightly before heading back inside and making her way to the English department, just in case something was going on there. She arrived at the door to the classroom and looked through the window to see the girl towering over Freddie's ex-girlfriend; Lindsey was cowering in the corner trying to defend herself from the blows raining down from… that looked like a sock in the younger girl's hand. The gothic girl could only guess at what was in it but she walked inside to get a better look at things.

"Sam, what are you doing?" she asked curiously, if slightly unnecessarily. The little trouble-maker turned her head to face her.

"Teaching this chick a lesson; something _you all_ should have done for _your friend_," her tone was nonchalant to begin with but some irritation bled in when she pointed out that the blonde had suffered no consequences from the group for her actions.

"I prefer a way of getting even that makes people sorry for a _very long time_," Jade defended herself, walking to the visitor's side and directing her last words to the fearful blonde on the floor.

"Mama doesn't do subtle, just beatings," she shrugged.

"Well that way worked too," the brunette conceded as Lindsey groaned in pain. "You coming?" She motioned towards the door.

"I've just got one more thing to do," the blonde told her, stepping forward and swinging the butter sock once more, sending her enemy back to the ground where she lay motionless. "Ok, I'm done," she said pleasantly, "time to catch up with Freddie."

The two fifteen-year-old girls joined the others at their table in the Asphalt Café.

"Hey Freddie, look what I found," Jade called. The brown-eyed teen turned towards her and his face broke out into a huge grin as he spotted the girl walking with her.

"Sam!" he cried. "What are _you_ doing here?"

"Visiting you, you nub!" The blonde rolled her eyes at the question. "Geez Fredward, I thought you were the smart one out of us two," she laughed, closing the distance between them and sharing an eager hug with him.

She took a seat next to her fellow Seattle-born and slipped seamlessly into the conversation, though she got a little lost when the topic moved to some of the lessons and life of the school.

"Sorry," Freddie told her when he saw her eyes threatening to glaze over, "we're just used to talking about school and performing and stuff; it's become a habit I guess."

"That's ok," she shrugged, "so what were you doing this morning – some website thing was it?" Sam glanced around the table and received silent confirmation through a multitude of nods.

"Right! Yeah, I was working on the school's unofficial website; it's something we started at the end of last year when the official newspaper got shut down." Robbie yelped as the memory of the incident that had led to the paper's closure forcibly shot back to the forefront of his mind. Sam spared the ventriloquist a brief glance before turning back to her friend, waiting for him to continue.

"Anyway, some of the guys wanted to do an electronic version where we could all post updates, like tweets only we added another line for how we feel about it or what mood we're in. For example," he pulled out his G5 pearphone and tapped away for a few moments before showing it to the blonde girl.

_The Slap Mobile_

_Freddie Benson: Catching up with an old friend._

_Mood: Delighted_

Sam smiled at the sight and nodded. "And you're one of the chief nerds then?" she challenged with a teasing grin.

"Oh yes. The guys who started it wanted me to bring the site to life like I did our site last year." The others exchanged glances at his reluctance to cite iCarly by name.

The rest of their lunch period passed with enjoyable conversation; Freddie, and the others, made sure to keep to topics that would include their guest and it was a disappointed table that heard the warning bell when it signalled the start of their next class. They exchanged glances, wondering exactly what Sam was going to do; for her part the blonde was wary about going back into the school as she knew it would only be a matter of time before Lindsey was discovered. She hugged Freddie tightly as the gang got up from the table. "I'll be in _Jet Brew_ at 3, see you then?" He nodded, as did the others.

She turned to head out of the school but tapped Jade's elbow urging her to go with her. The tattooed girl followed with a quizzical look. Something about the discussions, particularly a stray comment from Beck about how much happier Freddie seemed to be with her sitting with them, piqued her curiosity.

"They still don't know?" the blonde asked the blue-streak haired girl, "about the rape," she clarified.

Jade was a little taken aback by meeting someone as blunt and direct as she was but swiftly recovered her poise. "No, Freddie only confided in _me_; he doesn't want it to be common knowledge, or Cat to know about what happened that night."

"Why not?"

"Despite being with Lindsey, and even when he _was_ with her, he still likes her and… she's Cat." The brunette could think of no better way to describe the ebullient red-head. "She's my best friend but she's… complicated. Let's just say it would _really_ upset her to find out what happened after the Prom."

"So, how are you going to help get those two back together?" she asked.

"Right now? I'm not."

"Huh?"

"Look at him," Jade argued, gesturing to the brown-haired teen watching the two girls from the entrance to the school; she gave him a reassuring wave, as did Sam. "This is the best his mood has been in a long time – probably since before the Prom – but he's not in _any_ fit state to be dating somebody right now, not after what Lindsey did to him. Cat likes him, he likes her so I'm going to let him grieve and _then_ I will figure something out for getting them together." A thought struck her as Sam nodded reluctantly, his friend having to admit that he had always been far more sensitive than most guys of his age – and recognising that he had been through quite the ordeal in recent times. "Why are you so keen to get him together with Cat? Why not go for him yourself since you're close?"

"Me and the nub?" Sam barked out a laugh. She forced her face to become serious and continued, "Look, he's my best friend but we're never going to be boyfriend/girlfriend. He stuck by me though when _nobody_ else would; not my mom, my sister, _Carly_," she spat out the web starlet's name, "none of them. I want to see him happy; he's a good guy and he deserves it. _Promise_ me you'll do what you can to get those two together and happy."

"I promise," Jade told her sincerely.

Sam nodded. "See you at three?" she smiled at her new ally.

Jade smirked. "You're going to be in _Jet Brew_ aren't you? You will _definitely_ see me there," she laughed.

The two aggressive girls went their separate ways, one to class and one to do a little more exploring and lying low in case a search party from the school tried to find her.

Lindsey had been discovered hobbling out of the classroom by one of the teachers; he had taken the girl to the school nurse, plying her with questions as he did about what had happened to her. The eleventh grade girl was evasive with her answers, not mentioning Sam (simply mentioning that she didn't recognise her assailant as a student) and hoping to play it down as much as she could, for fear (in the light of what her attacker had accused her of) of the allegations that could be levelled against _her_ if the story was investigated to any degree. Instead the news that a non-student had entered the school and randomly attacked a lone student (her "friends" were strangely reticent when the rumours started to circulate and mysteriously reluctant to come forward) had been greeted with alarm by Principal Eikner; the head teacher had ordered an upgrade in the school's security and a review of its policies in light of the event. He hoped it would be enough to stave off any potential legal action from the girl's parents.

"So that was Sam," Freddie smiled as Jade took her seat next to him in their Maths class; she arrived after the others, though moments before the teacher did. "I can't believe she came all the way here on a Monday just to see me."

"Oh yeah," Jade said, trying to sound nonchalant and not disclose the beating the girl had meted out to his ex-girlfriend, "quite the thing for her to do."

"Ok people, let's make a start," their teacher called. The two friends shared one more smile before turning to their work.

Last lesson for Cat and Freddie was music; they walked together from the Maths room while Jade headed in the opposite direction to the English department, smiling a little as she felt thankful that she wasn't in the classroom that had a liberal sprinkling of Lindsey's blood scattered around it. Out of curiosity she glanced into the room, noticing that most of it had been mopped up and that there was sand on the carpet where the blonde had bled. She gave a satisfied smirk; Freddie's blonde friend's methods may not have been how she would have handled the boy's ex- but she certainly approved of Sam's handiwork.

Across the school Freddie sat at one of the school's keyboards; the tech genius was idly playing a few notes here and there, trying to find a combination that appealed to his partner. The red-head shook her head in frustration and ran her hands through her hair as they seemed to not be making any progress.

"Let's try something else then," he suggested, standing up and walking away from the instrument. He took a seat at one of the desks and Cat joined him, taking the seat next to him. "Let's try getting some lyrics down, something that you want to sing, and then we'll see if we can find a tune that works for them."

The dyed-haired girl nodded eagerly and the pair sat in silence for a few minutes scribbling their ideas for lyrics.

"What about these?" Cat handed him her sheet of paper, which he exchanged for his own. They each read the other's offerings in silence, trying to drown out the general hubbub of the class in order to focus.

Freddie smiled as he saw the childlike teen mouthing along to the words he had written. "Anything you like?" he asked as she finished and raised her head to meet his eyes.

"I think so," she confirmed, seizing her own sheet again. "What if we… take this, this and this," she underlined the relevant words and see what we've got?"

They did and soon had the outline of their song, from which a chorus soon followed. The bell curtailed any further work but both teenagers were happy to have at least made a little progress.

"Let's go meet Sam," Freddie urged her as they packed away their things.

"'kay 'kay," she smiled and followed him out of the room.

_Jet Brew_

_7055 Sunset Blvd, Los Angeles, CA_

The pair had met André, Robbie, Eli and Beck by the lockers and the six made their way to the café. To nobody's surprise Jade was already sat there, at a table with Sam, and the two girls were talking and cradling their cups.

"I'm guessing Sam didn't pay," Freddie joked.

"No, you are," the blonde observed drily, causing him to roll his eyes.

"Oh it's true," Jade added, "You _know_ my allowance has been stopped so I can't afford to be buying coffees for your guests." She smiled to show him that she wasn't _entirely_ serious but he sighed, shook his head, drew some money from his wallet and handed it to her, earning the gothic girl's thanks.

"So how long are you in LA?" Robbie asked the blonde curiously once the group had all received their beverages.

"I dunno," she shrugged. "I thought about getting here not getting back."

"Oh you bought an open return?" Beck assumed.

"Uh no, I uh… actually just snuck on to a bus," she shrugged.

"What? How did you manage that?" Cat yelped.

"I climbed into the luggage hold," she grinned.

"Really?" Jade raised an eyebrow.

She smiled and nodded cheekily.

"You don't seem surprised," Eli observed as he addressed Freddie.

"I've known Sam for years," he chuckled, "so I _know_ what she's capable of doing and trust me – this is fairly tame compared to _some_ of the stories I could tell you."

She eyed him guiltily and he gave a conspiratorial smile before the two began to laugh. "_But_ I think we'll save those for another time," the others seemed disappointed, whereas Sam seemed relieved that he would be keeping his counsel; she really _did_ want to put some distance between her old life and who she was now despite, she mused, the fact that over the past 24 hours she had stowed away on a bus and then beaten somebody up in an act of vengeance.

The Angelinos and their new friend left the café after finishing their drinks; Jade needed to get home before her mother caught her breaching her grounding and imposed further punishments on the girl and the others decided to leave with her.

"How long _are_ you staying?" Freddie asked his friend as they walked at the back of the group, Cat a pace in front of them and trying at once to listen yet not eavesdrop.

"Well I didn't bring a bag or clothes or anything – or tell my mom that I was coming here so I can't stay long. I'll try and sneak onto another bus and get back overnight."

"I can _buy_ you a ticket, you know," he offered.

"With the eight bucks a month from your mom?" she lightly goaded; he winced his confirmation. "Thanks Freddie, but mama's got this one."

He nodded and called to the others. "Guys, we can get the downtown bus from this stop so Sam and I will head to the station. I'll see you all tomorrow."

The gang murmured their acknowledgement and said their goodbyes to their new friend, urging her to come back soon; it was something that Sam promised to do.

"Look after him," she ordered Cat as she gave the little red-head a quick hug.

"I'm trusting you," she informed Jade in a low voice; the streak-haired girl nodded to her while Beck looked on in confusion. Jade merely answered with a shrug before taking his hand and resuming their walk towards her home, followed by the others as they waved goodbye to the Seattle pair.

The bus soon arrived and Freddie bought them two tickets. "A much more civilised way to travel," he joked as they took a double seat.

"Civilisation? What's that? You've _met_ my mom, remember?" she laughed back.

True to her word she found the Vegas-bound bus and hatched her scheme, again declining his offer of a paid-for ticket.

"Ok then, do what 'mama' has to do," he sighed. "Sam," she turned back to him, "thank you for coming to see me; I really appreciate it." He took a step towards her and kissed her softly on the cheek before pulling her into a hug.

"That chick gives you any trouble and you let me know," she whispered threateningly as her hand rubbed up and down his back. He pulled away from her to look at her and nodded grimly.

"I'll see you soon?"

"Christmas maybe? Unless I can sneak away for Thanksgiving and pretend to be family – I know your mom would _love_ that."

"You will _always_ be welcome," he told her firmly, pulling her into another hug. "Bye Sam," he whispered as they separated. She nodded back before heading for the bus while the driver was talking to a passenger and climbing over a couple of the cases in the hold, hiding herself from his, and Freddie's, view. The brown-eyed boy turned away from the vehicle and left the station, head dropping slightly. A pair of blue eyes peeked through the luggage to follow him; the girl's heart broke a little at his worsening demeanour and she felt a fresh surge of happiness about how she had dealt with Lindsey.

"One day I'll tell you about it and we'll laugh," she promised him quietly, figuring that he'd likely find out soon enough and she _knew_ that he would put two and two together.

"Will he hate me for doing it?" she wondered suddenly with a little fear in her heart as she thought back on her impetuous act. "Did I go too far in beating the chizz out of her?" She sighed and ran her hands through her hair. "Freddie, forgive me," she whispered sadly.

_Valentine Residence, Hollywood Hills, Los Angeles_

Cat was smiling as she arrived at home; her face fell immediately, though, as she heard the noise coming from her brother's room; the tranquillity she was feeling in her heart after the day's events was swiftly being shattered. Not wanting to go up there and learn what was going on she dropped her school bag in the hallway and took a seat on the couch, burying her face in one of the cushions and wishing that she could hide from the reality of her home life.

She didn't know how long she sat like that, retreating more and more into the questionable sanctuary of her own mind, but was snapped out of it by a knock on the door. She opened it to reveal a grinning Freddie Benson.

"Hey," she greeted him, hugging him in delight as she received a very welcome distraction from her home life. He was surprised to be engulfed so readily by the vivacious girl and lightly returned the hug.

"What's going on?" he asked as he heard the noise that was so troubling his friend.

"My brother," she answered sadly. "Can we go somewhere? I really don't want to be around here right now."

"Sure," he gestured to the door and the two headed out. "Where do you want to go?"

"I don't know, just… _anywhere_," she admitted, almost on the point of tears.

At a loss for anything better to do Freddie slipped an arm around the near-hysterical girl and pulled her close to him; she clung to his arm as the two walked past a few houses before Cat began to breathe a little more steadily. Somewhere in the girl's mind she was able to register the feel of the shoulder strap of his bag pressing against her and she realised that he must have come straight to her house after leaving Sam.

"Thanks," she said, smiling at him gratefully.

"Any time Cat; you're one of my best friends, I'll always be here for you."

_Best friend_. The term pleased and frustrated the girl in equal measures. "So you just want friends right now?" she asked curiously before she could stop herself, gasping and covering her mouth as soon as the words left it. Freddie stopped abruptly and tensed beside her. "I didn't mean… I just…" she tried to amend before he silenced her with a small, slight smile and a calming breath.

"I just got out of one relationship, Cat," he began slowly, looking into her soft, welcoming eyes, "my head and how I feel about everything is still a little up in the air. I'm going to need some time to figure everything out so, for now, yeah I'm just looking for friends."

"That makes sense," she smiled back at him. "Do you still want to go somewhere?"

"Sure, we could hang at the mall for a little while?" he suggested, glancing at his watch.

"Oh do you have to be home soon?" the red velvet-haired girl wondered.

"Well my mom's still working days this week so she'll be back before too long. After last week she's still a bit worried about me so she will start to panic… even more than usual," he amended with a chuckle that drew a giggle from his friend, "if I'm not home. But we have some time."

_Benson Residence, __Hollywood Hills, Los Angeles_

"Freddie! Freddie?"

Unbeknownst to the boy, Marissa had left work a little earlier than usual; she was still concerned about his mental well-being in the aftermath of his break-up last week. Therefore the Benson matriarch was surprised to arrive at their home and find the place deserted. She breezed upstairs and checked her son's bedroom, concern beginning to grow as she saw that his bag and school supplies were missing. Fearing the worst she reached into her handbag and pulled out the locator unit that activated the tracking chip in his head.

"_Locating… Benson, Fredward_," declared the handset as she activated it. "_Benson, Fredward located. Two point one miles south east._"

The elder Benson knew that this was roughly where the Green Meadow mall could be found so she assumed the boy was there. She pulled his number up through speed dial and called him.

_Green Meadow Mall,_

_6801 Hollywood Blvd,__ Los Angeles, CA_

The two teenagers sat sipping smoothies when Freddie suddenly heard a faint echo in his head; he froze as it reminded him of the incident during his fencing session a few months ago. Having experienced it before he was unwilling to dismiss it as nonchalantly as he had done that day but he chose not to mention it as he didn't want to further worry the already stressed girl who was with him. Instead he tried to cover for the momentary awkwardness with another swig of his drink and, as Cat had been talking at the time, she didn't notice his brief flash of discomfort.

"Hold on," he sighed as he heard his _Galaxy Wars_ ringtone on his phone and pulled the device from the pocket of his khaki shorts. He glanced at the number before answering,

"Hey mom, how are you? Oh you're back already? Yeah I'm fine, just hanging at the mall with Cat. Ok... ok I'll be home soon. No you don't have to…" He sighed. "I guess you're picking me up then," he told the dead line before turning to his companion. "She'll be picking me up in a few minutes. Do you need a ride home?"

"Uh yeah, that would be nice, particularly as our hang-out session is being cut short," the girl remarked a little balefully.

Marissa arrived soon after and the teens got into her car. _That's twice now_, the brown-eyed boy reflected, _that I've heard some weird echo or noise in my head and then mom has shown up_. He shook his head trying to dismiss the ridiculous idea that it was anything other than some mild ESP that he was exhibiting.

The two Bensons exchanged small talk about one another's day after dropping Cat off at her home. Marissa was keen to gauge her son's mood and seemed pleased that he was beginning to fell happier again after the events of the previous week; Freddie neglected to mention that Sam had appeared at school today as he knew his mother would not appreciate that little snippet of information.

_Asphalt Café, Hollywood Arts High School_

_Tuesday, 15__th__ September 2009_

The rumour mill was in full swing when Freddie arrived at school the following day; he joined Eli and Robbie at a table where they told him about the proposed new security measures for the school, along with the reasons for them – that some random kid had trespassed on school grounds the previous day and beaten Lindsey up. Freddie's face was an emotionless mask as he was given this news, something the surprised the two boys. Beck and Jade joined the trio while Eli was concluding his story; Jade kept her own poker face intact when she was given the news, though a slightly too-long glance at Freddie confirmed the former tech producer's suspicions.

Inside his head, of course, Freddie had had little time connecting Sam's arrival to Lindsey's suffering even without Jade's non-verbal confirmation. He found himself realising that the blonde's actions didn't bother him in the slightest. On the contrary, when he got home from school that night, he called his friend for a quick chat.

"Hey Sam," he began.

"Freddie," she answered, happily but he could detect a note of caution in her tone.

"So the strangest story was going around school today," he continued, hearing a nervous swallow on the other end of the line. "Yeah, something about some random kid walking into school yesterday, beating up my ex-girlfriend and then leaving again."

"Freddie I-" Sam wanted to explain, to apologise, to do _something_ to stop her one true friend from hating her but he interrupted.

"Thank you for sticking up for me. Coming all this way just to give her a beat-down? That's something only a real friend would do Sam. It's great to know that you have my back."

There was silence on the blonde's end of the phone call; she was stunned by his words, about as far from what she was expecting as it was possible to get. "You're welcome," she managed to get out in a slightly embarrassed voice eventually. "So what else happened today?"

Freddie smiled as the two friends ' conversation continued in a much more relaxed way.

* * *

**AN: I hope you all enjoyed this chapter with an old friend paying Freddie another visit and leaving her mark on proceedings in more ways than one. If you liked it, or even if you didn't, please add a review and I hope to see you all for the next chapter soon.**


	4. Chapter 4

**AN: Hello everyone and welcome to the latest instalment in this story. I hope that you are all well. Let me start, as always, by thanking everybody who read and reviewed the last chapter.  
**

**Fanfic-Reader-88 - yes it was quite an action by Sam to go down there to give Lindsey a beating. I'd argue that it wasn't so much Freddie leaving Seattle that triggered it as him being there for her when she was in Juvie and more or less abandoned by everyone else: her mum, her sister, Carly. Freddie was there for her and now she's there for him.**

**Challenge King - similar point re: Sam and Freddie, and yes he's still healing and coming to terms with everything that went on between him and Lindsey.**

**SpazzQueen15 - Jade and Sam - it would be an interesting dynamic if they had to interact for longer; I think they'd either get on well or kill one another.**

**Agent-M - Lindsey did rather have it coming after everything, didn't she?**

**pbow - yes Cat came close to spilling the beans. Freddie has his suspicions but I'm not sure even HE believes his mum is capable of doing something like that at the moment.**

**OneHorseShay - rooting for Sam? I can understand the dilemma having read your Freddie/Jade epic. As for her description of Lindsey's actions - as a much wiser and more talented author than me once wrote, "Sam may be book dumb but it doesn't mean she's not smart in other ways." Freddie may be using the word "seduces" but she has a different interpretation based upon what he's told her about it. Sam/Jade and Freddie/the chip I've touched on above but you are correct about his rather blase attitude to learning what Sam did; one would expect him to at least have some issues with her getting a beat-down like that, maybe the consequences of their relationship have yet to fully unravel.**

**That's my Jay - I'm glad you liked it. I touched on Freddie/Sam and his (non-)reaction to Sam beating up Lindsey above so I'll simply point you to that and say that you're right - we WOULD expect Freddie to be upset about it, so it's interesting that he isn't...**

**Ok, that's everyone, on with Chapter 4.**

* * *

Chapter 4

_Valentine Residence, Hollywood Hills, Los Angeles_

_Monday 5__th__ October 2009._

Cat hummed quietly to herself, grinning happily as she fixed her hair and a little light touch of make-up; the little red-head was almost ready to leave for school and was in a very good mood after the weekend that had just past. She and Jade had hung out together for most of it, they'd hit the mall, they'd had a sleep-over at her house on the Saturday night (the gothic girl had looked far from thrilled at the suggestion but had acquiesced) and they'd also had a good time around and about the local area the following day (going out for coffee and lunch before studying together and doing homework) though she knew that obviously Jade would never admit to having enjoyed it.

Their somewhat impromptu girly weekend had come about due to Beck having to head up to Canada to visit some of his relative; his abrupt departure on the Thursday (and consequent skipping of school on the Friday, along his Thursday evening fencing session with Freddie and André) had been a surprise to his raven-haired girlfriend so she was privately pleased that Cat had leapt into action and kept her company for the entire weekend.

Of some concern to the mean girl, however, had been the number of guys trying to chat them up at the mall, and how receptive Cat seemed to be to some of their advances (in contrast she had threatened to remove various appendages if they continued to bother her). Of course she knew that her best friend was _always_ nice to _everybody_ but this went beyond her intrinsic niceness to actually flirting and suggesting, or at least implying, that one or two of the boys could be in with a chance. She hadn't given her number to any of them, or accepted numbers from them, but had hinted that she'd be at the mall again soon and wouldn't mind seeing them again when she did return. Mindful of her promise to Sam she determined that she would have to take the effervescent girl to one side and see how she still felt about Freddie.

For the red velvet-haired girl's part the problem in that regard was that Freddie still wasn't showing any sign that he had any interest in _her_ again. It had been a few weeks now since his split with Lindsey and he was, on the outside at least, looking like he was back to his old self, talking and participating in class, working hard on his assignments (particularly the song for their music class), laughing and joking with his friends and he had signed up for the lead in a small play where he would be starring opposite Jade; Cat had been a little disappointed when her best friend beat her out for the part as she'd have liked to have acted alongside him again. She was, though, happy to help him and the brunette rehearse whenever she could and she had worked on a few of Jade's lines with her over this past weekend.

The concern that the red-head had in regards to the boy was his comment, around three weeks ago now, in which he said that he was just looking for friends. The fifteen-year-old had accepted his explanation at the time; now, however (still bereft of the _whole_ story of Freddie's and Lindsey's relationship), she was wondering just how long he was going to take before he started looking around again – and how long _she_ should wait as well.

"Cat? Are you ready to go?" her mother called up the stairs.

"Yes mom, I'm on my way," she replied happily and bounced down the stairs, bag in hand and hair flowing around her.

"Well at least you're dressed for the weather," Mrs Valentine commented; Cat was in a long-sleeve powder blue T-shirt and dark blue skinny jeans with shin-length boots as the forecast was for a few cooler than normal days this week, something that had allowed Rex, when the forecast was commented upon the previous Friday lunchtime, to dismiss global warming as a hoax. The sophomore had noticed that the two immigrants from more northern climes (Beck and Freddie) seemed rather relieved by the prospect of some cooler weather; Beck would certainly get some over the next few days as he wasn't due back from Vancouver for a couple more days.

The two left the house and the elder Valentine drove her daughter to the school before heading for work.

_Asphalt Café, Hollywood Arts High School_

Cat still wore a broad grin as she approached the table where her friends sat. Jade, complete with pink hair extensions today, cradled a foam cup from Jet Brew and took the occasional sip of her coffee while she half-listened to André and Robbie talking about something. Eli waved to the girl as she approached, causing Jade to turn her friend; she smiled genuinely at the approaching red-head in the hope that she would change the topic of conversation – whether or not that proved to be a change for the _better_ was, of course, another matter entirely.

"Hi guys," she began brightly as she took a seat next to the black-clad girl.

"Hello," Jade replied tersely amid "hey"s and "How are you?"s from the boys.

"Have you guys seen Freddie this morning?" she enquired, looking eagerly around the table.

"I think he has his _Slap_ meeting," the songsmith supplied.

Cat nodded, she had forgotten that Monday morning was the day that the website staff got together and caught up on whatever was going on with their project, any videos that people had uploaded that needed vetting, anything vulgar that needed removing (as a couple of the senior class had already tried to upload).

"Yeah, we'll see him in class though," Jade added.

"Oh right, we have Sikowitz first don't we?" Cat remembered with a smile, looking forward to seeing her friend in the crazy teacher's lesson.

A few minutes after the girl had sat down the bell alerted them to the fact that it was time to head to that lesson so the group made their way inside, stopping briefly at their lockers en route.

Having left the computer room, the Seattle-born tech producer was already in the acting teacher's classroom when his friends joined him.

"Freddie! Hi!" Cat called as she entered the room and spotted him. Behind her Jade rolled her eyes at the exuberant greeting, particularly as her ear had been a little too close to the brown eyed girl's mouth when she had given it. The teenager turned in his seat and wore a wide grin as he spotted the two girls, followed by some of his other friends, heading through the door.

"Cat, Jade," he greeted them before noticing André, Eli and Robbie, who he also greeted. "Did you girls have a good weekend?" He shot a sly grin at the brunette as he asked that, knowing that she and Cat had been together for most of it. His reward was a mock-scowl from the pale girl as she took a seat two chairs away from him, subtly suggesting that Cat should take the place between them. The girl took the obvious seat and Jade busied herself in her school bag as she tried to hide the grin growing on her face.

Sikowitz announced, having arrived in the classroom via the window much to his students' bewilderment, that the next few weeks would be spent on dramatic acting. They would be split into groups (Cat gripped her neighbours' forearms tellingly at the announcement) and be given a number of scenes to work on and perform in front of the class. The ex-Seattle native turned to the bubbly girl with a smile; he didn't think that this would be too much of a problem given that they had acted in three plays together. He glanced across the girl to her dark haired best friend and wordlessly they had formed a trio.

"Who gets Beck when he comes back?" Freddie wondered aloud as he and the girls studied the first scene they had been given to perform.

"I'm sure someone will find him a spot," Jade shrugged unconcernedly. "Maybe Robbie, Eli and André can work with him."

"You don't want to?" Cat was surprised.

"It's up to you guys really."

"Well I'd have no problem if we had a scene for four instead but for this one we couldn't really accommodate him," Freddie pointed out reasonably.

Cat had nothing to add so they agreed that, after this performance, they would see if he still needed a group to join.

The day had passed as uneventfully as they ever do at a school like Hollywood Arts; Freddie and Jade were working together on an assignment for their Theatre History class and he was paired with André for Stage Management. Cat missed Beck in her singing class but at the moment they were only working as soloists so it didn't matter too much from a performing or assignment standpoint. After lunch the red-head, mean girl and Tech genius would be together in Maths and, as the trio walked past the main staircase, they spotted Lindsey and her friends by the blonde junior's locker. For her former boyfriend it was the first time he had seen her since Sam's visit and it was a reunion that he hadn't been looking forward to (in fact he had spent the last few weeks purposely taking routes that would minimise the chances of him coming across her). Instantly his discomfort returned; the relaxed and jovial Freddie of recent times evaporated to be replaced by one that wore a cold, dispassionate yet slightly angry expression as he eyed the girl. Momentarily forgetting all about his two companions the boy then quickened his pace and smartly left the locker area; nobody saw the vindictive grin invade his features as he thought back on the punishment his friend had meted out to the girl.

"He's still not over her," Cat commented sadly as her shoulders sagged a little. Jade nodded in agreement, torn between giving her friend a sad, sympathetic look and the urge to fix the blonde with one that could kill.

The gothic girl settled for simply encouraging Cat to quicken her pace and the two left in pursuit of their classmate; the red-head's brain was occupied by one question – _how much longer am I prepared to wait?_

Lindsey had watched the exchange with sadness; the girl had been troubled ever since her encounter with Sam Puckett – it was not so much the physical wounds inflicted but the dirty-blonde's words that had bothered the junior girl more.

"_You raped him_." Those words still echoed down the chambers of her mind; whenever she closed her eyes now she thought back on that night. _Does Freddie really think that I'm a rapist?_ she asked herself over and over whenever she was plagued by Sam's allegation. The look he had given her added new questions to the mix, _has what he once felt for me turned into hate? Have I made him hate me?_

She didn't want that; she did regret how it ended but was happy with the new guy that she was seeing. He was closer to her age and dating him had enabled her to get her friends back, so her school life had improved too. She felt that she was missing just one thing at the moment, peace with Freddie.

"So how's the new guy? Did you see him over the weekend?" Christine asked her, trying to distract her friend from the emotional turmoil that seeing her former boyfriend had clearly engendered.

"Huh?" she asked distractedly before focussing, "Oh yeah," Lindsey brightened in an instant as she began to recall some happier memories. "He drove over to our place Saturday morning, took me out for lunch, we spent the rest of the day together… it was awesome."

* * *

"So, what do you lovely ladies have planned for tonight?" Freddie asked his classmates calmly as they settled into their places in the Maths class; the two girls were sat flanking him near the front of the room.

The girls exchanged cautious glances; they wondered about his mood after the encounter with Lindsey and just how genuine his voice of calm was. Jade spoke up, "Nothing really with Beck still being away. Cat?"

"Uh, my parents want me home straight from school; they want me to keep an eye on my brother while they go out somewhere."

The boy nodded. "Want to do some studying and maybe rehearse our lines for the play?" he suggested to the gothic teen.

"Sure. Your place or mine?" Jade was happy to keep the conversation trivial but felt a pang of concern at the wall her friend seemed to be busily constructing around his emotions.

"Well, my mom's on nights this week so there'll be no-one home at my house, it would definitely be quiet."

"Fine, we'll go to yours then."

Cat was a little disappointed that she was being left out of the study session but, as she had said, she needed to be home and they would struggle to get as much done at her place with the added complication of her brother. She shuddered a little at the thought of an evening home alone with the troubled young man.

Thus it was with trepidation that the girl left school, after a successful music lesson where she and Freddie accomplished quite a bit for their song, and headed for her home. She was accompanied by her two friends some of the way, which included the almost obligatory stop at Jet Brew; Jade was thankful that her allowance had been reinstated as it meant that she could again afford to indulge in her after-school coffees. The red velvet-haired girl said a sombre goodbye to the others as she turned down the street and they continued the trip towards the Benson home.

_Valentine Residence_

The brown-eyed girl arrived at home just as her father was getting ready to leave; he was thankful that she had returned promptly as his wife would be picking him up any time.

"Now Cat, your brother should be fine for most of the time. There's some dinner for you in the fridge and if there are any problems, you know what to do and who to call."

She nodded timidly; the girl had the list of numbers for doctors and other assistance in dealing with the troubled boy. She really hoped that she would not to have to use them and instead would be able to spend the evening with her school work. The sound of a car horn alerted Mr Valentine to his wife's arrival. "Bye kitten," he kissed her cheek as he passed her and was out the door a moment later.

The tenth grader dropped her bag on the floor of the living room and trudged to the kitchen; she decided that she would eat before doing any work tonight. Scouring the fridge she found the made up plate and carried it carefully to the microwave, palming her forehead in sadness and frustration as the sound of switching the appliance on caused a howl from upstairs. She stood motionless in the kitchen for a few moments, thankful that his episode had subsided relatively peacefully, and opened the microwave a moment before it was due to beep to indicate that the time was up. She carried the hot plate over to the kitchen table and sat, fork in hand and raised above her meal, lost in contemplation in the silent house as she wondered about her brother, her friends, her work… and Freddie; the question she had asked herself earlier was echoing louder and louder for her.

_Benson Residence, Hollywood Hills, Los Angeles_

After parting company with Cat the two teenagers had swiftly covered the distance to the boy's home. He unlocked the door (grinning as he thought about just how easy it was to pick it instead following Sam's tuition over the summer) and stepped back to allow his friend to enter first.

"You want something to eat?" he offered. "Or just more coffee," he suggested with a grin.

"Coffee yes, food if any of it is edible." Jade still had not forgotten about the boy's fifteenth birthday party; his uncomfortable grimace suggested that he hadn't either.

He led the way to the kitchen; the teenagers dropped their bags by the coffee table in the living room as they traversed it.

"Let's see what we've got," he muttered to himself, drumming his fingers on the open door of the fridge, "nope, nothing that looks too appetising. Plan B?" he turned to his friend with a smile and waving a takeout menu from the local pizza place.

While waiting for their pepperoni pizzas to be delivered the two worked through their Maths homework from the day's lesson; Freddie quickly finished and gave a couple of pointers to the dark-haired girl where she was stuck.

"One of the good things about being here in LA? I can actually _enjoy_ these pizzas," he commented as he reached for another slice. In response to Jade's confused expression he elaborated, "If Carly, Sam and I were ever having pizza Sam would steal all the pepperoni from it and eat it before we could get anywhere near it." He shook his head and smiled at the memory; whether it was the time that had passed or the improved friendship that he and the blonde shared, somehow it seemed a lot funnier to him now.

"Do you miss them?" she asked curiously. "I mean, do you ever wish you'd stayed in Seattle and the three of you had still been at your old school together."

"I don't know," he admitted, setting his half-eaten morsel down in the box, "I love it here, I love Hollywood Arts and having you and the others for friends is great. I really do think that my life here is better than the one I left behind but…"

"Then there was Lindsey," Jade interjected bluntly and with a hint of anger in her voice.

"Yeah," he frowned as he thought about his ex-girlfriend. "What happened that night…" he laced his fingers and stretched is arms in front of him as he looked at the pink-streak haired girl, "I would give _anything_ to be able to change it, to have that night _not_ end up like that. If we'd left the Prom and I'd gone back home and she'd gone to hers then it would have been a really, really nice night – pretty much a _perfect_ night for us. Who knows? Maybe we'd still be together or maybe we'd still have broken up – but I'm sure that it wouldn't hurt the way it does right now." He reached over to the box to retrieve his partially eaten pizza.

The girl smiled sadly at him and covered his other hand gently with her own; he looked up to meet her eyes and returned her smile. She dropped her gaze as a hint of embarrassment arose within her at how she was looking at him and removed her hand from his, under the pretence of doing so in order that she could seize another slice of her pizza. "Better eat up before it gets cold," she commented emotionlessly.

The brown-eyed boy followed her lead and carried on with his meal. Once they were done he took the boxes to the garbage outside. "Now mom need never know; it would horrify her," he laughed. "So, rehearsal?"

"Rehearsal," she echoed with a nod of her head. "How are you with it? Still from the book or are you good without?"

"No I still need the book for the last few scenes," he conceded. "I got Act One and some of the second Act but not quite all yet."

"Me too. I worked with Cat on it a bit over the weekend so I know most of it – and the timings – but I think I'll have the book to hand for after the interval."

"We're having an interval tonight?" he asked with a slight chuckle.

"We will unless you want to work right through."

"Work _right through_?" he smirked slightly as he raised his eyebrows, leading Jade to eye him curiously. _Is he flirting, joking or just being himself?_ she wondered. She immediately dismissed the idea of him flirting with her, given how hurt and cut up he still clearly was over the end of his relationship with Lindsey (and the fact that Beck was one of his best friends). The pain and hurt that she remembered seeing on her friend's face through this whole saga with the older blonde girl had caused her to feel something that she seldom did; she _almost_ had the urge to cry for him, a feeling that was threatening to return in the light of their conversation over dinner.

"Let's make a start," she snapped out of her emotional state and managed to don on her imperceptible mask again, standing and walking over to the unlit fireplace. She turned to face the former iCarly tech producer, who had also got to his feet, and delivered the opening line of the play.

They raced through their scenes; both were word-perfect for the first Act where it was just the two of them, though they improvised by reading others' lines from the books and trying to remember those lines to use as their own cues.

"So the guy says you've gotta go, blah blah blah," Jade broke from reading the script to cover her slight anxiety at what was to come. She took a deep breath, lowered the book, looked at her cast-mate and delivered her own next line. "But when will you be back?"

"I don't know," Freddie's voice was soft and he cupped her cheek tenderly; she placed her hand on his to hold it in place as a few stray tears left her eyes. The boy assumed that she was such a good actress that she could cry on demand; in truth Jade was unsure how much was an act and how much was brought on by all her thoughts about the teenager stood before her. He used the thumb of his other hand to softly wipe the tears away. "But I _will_ be back. I love you."

"I love you too," she whispered, breath hitching and fresh tears falling. Then she pulled back slightly and tried to give a more casual glance as she recovered her composure. "Do you want to practise the kiss or save it for official rehearsal?"

"Oh," he uttered, dropping his hand from her face and looking towards the fireplace slightly awkwardly as her question sank in. Jade managed a genuine grin as she could take a little amusement from his awkwardness – and it distracted from her own. "I uh… I guess we could wait for rehearsal if you want but…" he shot her a sly smile, "we _are_ supposed to be rehearsing the _whole_ thing tonight aren't we?"

Jade's grin, if anything, broadened at his observation and expression; she relaxed slightly, anticipation beginning to replace nervousness as she thought about their forthcoming stage kiss. "So from when will you be back?"

"I don't know." He cupped her cheek again. "But I _will_ be back. I love you."

"I love you too," and she slipped her arms around him, turning her head slightly as his hand moved from her cheek to her back. They leaned in and their lips met softly to begin with before they experimented a little with changing the pressure that each applied to the kiss. Both lost track of time while they were kissing, pulling apart – a little reluctantly – a few moments later.

"I think maybe we _do_ need an interval," he commented as idly and casually as he could before shooting her a sly grin as he offered, "another coffee?"

"Of course," she responded with a renewed smile as she tried to surreptitiously slow and control her breathing. She eyed his retreating back while having to remind herself, almost like a mantra, _it's just a stage kiss, it's just a stage kiss_. The pink-streak haired girl had not forgotten her pledge to Sam, nor that Cat was her best friend and liked the boy, nor that he was still getting over his own break-up, nor indeed that she was still dating Beck and thus "off the market" – but she had to admit that she _did_ enjoy that kiss. Still smiling she followed him to the kitchen.

Freddie surprised the girl by climbing onto the kitchen worktop and reaching for something on top of the cupboards. "My secret cookie stash," he explained in a conspiratorial manner. "Mom wouldn't approve but she doesn't know that they're there." He offered a couple to the girl and took two for himself before returning the box to its hiding place and climbing back down to ground level.

"Act two now or something else first?" the mean girl asked him as they finished their drinks.

"We could do a little bit on our Theatre History homework I guess," he suggested. Jade nodded gratefully; she was eager to do something for a little while to take her mind off the kiss that they had shared, to stop reflecting on just how good a kisser Freddie was (thanks in no small part to his older girlfriend's 'tuition' during their relationship), the mean girl's mind wandered to drawing comparisons between him and Beck… _stop it_, she chided herself as her brain set off down that road, but she knew it would be a bit of a battle to get her emotions back under full control; she hoped that a little time working on other things might just help with that.

The black-clad girl deliberately took a seat on the other side of the table from her friend; he eyed her in surprise at this move but refrained from commenting, simply sitting down at the table and opening his book at the appropriate page. The two discussed the questions and came to agree on some answers over the course of around half-an-hour and Freddie relaxed a little as he set his pen down.

"That's one piece of homework done then," he smiled at his friend. "Act two now or do you want another break first?"

"I'll have another coffee," Jade's answer was rather predictable; she swept a few stray hairs from her face as she responded. Freddie smiled again as he took their cups to the kitchen, returning moments later having replenished the liquid within them.

"We don't share too many scenes after the interval, do we?" he asked thoughtfully as he flicked through the script book.

"No, your character is away a lot so I get stuck with a load of _girl-talk_," she almost choked over the end of the sentence and Freddie laughed at her discomfort.

"Sorry," he amended when she scowled at him, but he was still unable to hide the grin from his face. His friend shook her head softly and reluctantly smiled along with him.

The two aspiring actors went through their scenes; again they rehearsed by reciting their own lines from memory while reading from the book to deliver other actors' lines as cues and prompts for one another until they reached the final scene, where their characters would be reunited.

"I knew you'd come back," the girl's voice was soft, almost breaking with the emotion of seeing her lover again. "I never doubted it."

"I promised you I'd return – and I meant it," his reply was equally heart-felt.

"Then promise me that you'll never leave me alone again," she whispered.

"I'm back for good now, nothing will keep us apart," he reassured her.

She threw her arms around him and kissed him again, marrying passion for his return with tenderness from the pain of their separation. Her co-star kissed back, putting his character's heart and soul into it before pulling away to take a breath, resisting the urge to look to the heavens in response to the kiss.

"And scene!" he declared with a huge smile as a jolt of adrenaline kicked in; he was still in the girl's arms and was making no attempt to extricate himself. "You're going to _nail_ this on opening night Jade," the boy enthused.

"You too," she agreed, though a little distractedly, "you've got it all pretty much down now." She pulled her arms from him and suddenly, unexpectedly, glanced at her watch. "I uh… I got to go," it was something of an excuse as her curfew wasn't this early now that she was no longer grounded so she lied, "otherwise my mom will freak and I'll be grounded for another two weeks."

Freddie snorted out a short laugh; he of all people knew about overbearing and overprotective mothers. Mrs West hadn't struck him as being that sort of parent but, he reasoned, he had only met her the once and things were probably still a little tense from her daughter getting the tattoo and then sneaking out during her grounding. "Ok then, I'll see you tomorrow."

"Yep," she confirmed, a little unnecessarily, gathering her bag and adding her things from the table to it. "Bye Freddie," she said as she walked past him to the door and left the Benson home; the abruptness of her departure added some confusion to the boy's feelings. He shrugged and, having completed all his homework during their study session, switched the TV on, laughing at one of the ridiculous shows that were airing on the _Spanish Language Channel_.

Jade walked until she was just out of sight of Freddie's living room window; she leaned against the fence of the house she stood outside and sucked in a few deep breaths. _Damn, that boy can kiss!_ was running through her head. _How good would his kisses be if he was actually _trying_ and not just acting?_ the brunette found herself wondering before she could stop herself. _You're with Beck, Cat likes him_, she forced herself to remember those two important facts and, by the time she had returned home, she had managed to put any musings about Freddie Benson out of her mind – for the time being.

"Hey mom," she called as she entered her home.

"Oh hi Jade, did you have a good time with Freddie?" the West matriarch asked.

"Huh?" Seriously, was it _that_ obvious that she was still thinking of him?

"Your studying and rehearsing," her mother elaborated, wearing a confused expression as she was rather surprised that she had had to do so.

"Oh… yeah, we got our homework done and I think we're both just about there with the script. We should be fine for the first full cast rehearsal later this week anyway. I've eaten so I'll be in my room; I want to call Beck and see how he's surviving Canada."

"Ok," Mrs West shrugged a little at being blown off like that, but it was Jade so she was used to it.

The dark-haired teenager dropped her bag on the floor of her bedroom. With her mind and emotions still rather jumbled she didn't feel like talking to her boyfriend just yet. Glancing at her bedside clock told her that it was around 8:30. The gothic girl decided to spend half an hour on _Gears of War 2_ before calling him; _that should give me time to relax_, she reasoned.

_Green Meadow Mall,_

_6801 Hollywood Blvd, Los Angeles_

_Tuesday 6__th__ October 2009._

With André and Freddie at the gym after school Jade acquiesced to accompany Cat to the mall. Secretly the red-head was hoping that she would see one of the guys she had been chatting to recently, as she had enjoyed the attention that she had received from them. Her luck was in as she spied one of them, Martin, near the Smoothie place in the mall. She waved flirtatiously at the boy, something that caused Jade to grimace visibly. Cat giggled at her reaction and gave her arm a playful push, further annoying the gothic teen.

"Hi Cat," the black-haired boy greeted her with a big smile; the child-like girl giggled as she returned his greeting. "Do you _girls_," he caught himself and added Jade to the conversation, "want to go for a smoothie," gesturing to the outlet behind him.

"No," Jade was rather certain and definite in her view.

"I will," Cat piped up unexpectedly. Her friend gave her a confused look, as she assumed that they were supposed to be hanging out together.

"Ok, I guess I'll catch you later then Cat."

"Bye," she giggled and went with the boy into the shop leaving a confused and troubled Jade staring after them. With little else to do, and no stores in _this_ mall that she particularly wanted to visit, the blue-streak haired girl headed for home, pulling out her phone to call her boyfriend as she did; she was happy to learn that he was at the airport and would be getting a flight back to LA later on that evening.

_West Residence, Hollywood Hills_

About an hour later, after she and her mother had shared an impromptu dinner (Mrs West wasn't expecting her home so early after being informed that she and Cat had plans) Jade was a little surprised to receive a phone call; it was from Cat.

"Hi, where are you? Are you still at the mall?" her friend asked.

"No, I went home when you went for your smoothie with that guy."

"Oh. Well we're going to catch a movie; I guess you don't wanna come then."

"Not really. Wait – are you _dating_ him?" Jade fired in an accusing tone.

"Uh I'm not sure, maybe. We had a smoothie and now we're seeing a movie. Hello? Hello? She hung up," Cat told her new friend in a disappointed voice.

The red-head surprised her friend by having the presence and clarity of mind to call on her later that evening; even Cat could tell that all wasn't well following the abrupt ending of their conversation.

"Hey," she began softly, after knocking on Jade's bedroom door; Mrs West had let her in when she arrived at their home. "I'm sorry I left you to go hang out with Martin. I didn't think you'd get so mad at me for it."

"It's not that, Cat, it's just… _are_ you dating him?" she asked curiously, looking up after pausing her game.

"I'm seeing him again on Friday so I guess so," she nodded.

"What about Freddie? I thought you liked him," Jade pointed out.

"I did, I _do_ but… I don't know if he still likes _me_ or whether he's going to like anyone with the way he is right now." Jade had to concede that point; she did so by keeping silent. "If he _was_ still interested then maybe... but how long am I supposed to wait for him to get over Lindsey? And in the meantime, am I supposed to put my life on hold forever waiting for him to get over her?"

Jade sighed in resignation and defeat. "No, I guess not," she admitted sadly.

* * *

**AN: Yes I know Elizabeth Gillies is a vegan so Jade would be very unlikely to eat a pepperoni pizza on the show. A little artistic license never hurt anyone though. I hope you enjoyed the chapter, please drop me a review to let me know what you thought and I hope you call come back next week for Chapter 5.  
**


	5. Chapter 5

**AN: Hello everyone and thank you for viewing (and hopefully reading) the latest chapter of this little story; I hope you are all well. I'll start, as usual, by addressing the points raised in the reviews from Chapter 4; my thanks to you all for your continued feedback.**

**That's My Jay – best Jedi ever? No comment but thank you.**

**Challenge King – some good points, Jade is finding her "mission" rather more difficult at the moment with Cat starting to look elsewhere.**

**Fanfic-Reader-88 – yes, if things were just a little different then we could have an interesting situation between the two of them.**

**SpazzQueen15 – indeed, she likes Stage kissing Freddie.**

**Pbow – yes maybe she should talk to him, but one could argue that she DID at the end of chapter 3 and he was "just looking for a friend". As she says, is she meant to wait forever for him? Freddie knows exactly what a stage kiss is, having stage kissed Cat last year. Jade was in the class and they DID make it a short course in stage kissing (early in **_**iSwitch Schools**_**) but you have attractive, hormonal 15-year olds so sometimes what they learnt goes out of the window.**

**OneHorseShay – you're right that there's no obligation if the story evolves in a way that would make the original intent ludicrous. The emotional connection is there, but so are Beck and the pain of Lindsey's action. As for Cat jumping the gun, perhaps she is but as I said above, she could argue that he told her in the last episode that he wasn't looking for anything. Why should she not date, see who's around there and have a little fun, **_**maybe**_** something becomes serious or maybe not but she doesn't feel that she should put her life on hold waiting for him, particularly as she doesn't know the whole story and therefore **_**why**_** Freddie is taking a long time to get over it all.**

**Agent M – yes, it's a will they/won't they at the moment and yes Jade **_**could**_** get side-tracked if she isn't careful…**

**Ok, now for the next chapter.**

* * *

Chapter 5

_Recreation room, Hollywood Arts High School, Los Angeles, California._

_Thursday, 22__nd__ October 2009._

An overnight and early-morning downpour meant that the usual routine of the kids meeting one another in the Asphalt Café before first period needed to be changed; instead Jade had texted the others and suggested the rec room as a venue for them to see one another before school started. The gothic girl, today wearing her pink hair extensions, arrived at the room with one hand in Beck's and the other cradling her morning fix of Jet Brew coffee. She smiled at the sight of André and Freddie engrossed in a game of ping pong; the Seattle-born was not going easy on his friend as he had the musician leaping all over the place trying in increasing desperation to return the ball. Finally Freddie, who himself was barely breaking sweat, forced him out wide before lazily sending the ball across the other side of the table with an easy backhand. The songsmith thought better of diving along the hard floor and simply raised his bat to his foe in recognition of a point well won while Cat, hereto sat quietly watching them, applauded and gave a small cheer.

Freddie grinned and set his bat on the table, turning to greet the new arrivals with a wave.

"Hey guys, want a game?"

"No," Jade answered simply, reclaiming her hand from her boyfriend and taking a seat next to the red-haired giggly girl. Freddie was slightly surprised that she didn't look at him as she crossed the room.

In truth (though it was a truth the brunette kept strictly to herself) Jade had tried to avoid looking too closely at him at all over the last couple of weeks, ever since they had rehearsed their play at his house. Something about their stage kisses had affected the girl far more than they _should_ have, as she knew that was all they were, and for more than they normally _would_ do. She tried to compartmentalise, to dismiss it as circumstance: Beck was away at the time, she liked Freddie as a good friend, in fact she was his confidant, she wasn't afraid to admit that he was a handsome guy and she had discovered that he was a good kisser but she now found herself feeling rather awkward whenever he was around; the fact that he wasn't acting any different, implying to her that it really _was_ just a stage kiss to him, had in some ways disappointed the girl. In other ways she knew that he was right to not be reading anything into it. _Maybe it's just that he's more experienced_, she mused, _he starred opposite Cat in a few things so he's kissed her a few times while dating the blonde bitch; he's had more practice so he must just find it easier to do it as an act. I need to star in more stuff and kiss more guys_, she concluded her thoughts with a snigger that caused Cat to eye her curiously.

"What's so funny?" her friend asked her.

"Oh nothing that would interest you," she replied hurriedly.

"What's _that_ supposed to mean?" she asked, seemingly deeply affronted. Jade rolled her eyes and returned to her coffee, knowing better than to get into a debate with the volatile girl.

Since Beck's return from Canada, shortly after the evening in question that she had spent working and rehearsing at Freddie's house, the girl had been rather more affectionate than normal towards her boyfriend. She had been able to mask any suspicions he may have had over her behaviour by simply telling him that she had missed him so much during his family visit. He had happily accepted the claim, along with a suspicion that she also felt guilty about their arguments (he believed that he was right about things and that she was in the wrong) and that this was her way of apologising to him; the actor was enjoying his girlfriend being a little more liberal with her kisses and PDAs both during school and outside of it. Jade, meanwhile, tried to resolutely avoid seeking to draw any comparison between the two boys' kisses, choosing not to dwell on it.

Freddie surprised her by joining the two; he took a seat on Cat's right as Beck took on André; neither Robbie nor Eli had arrived yet.

"So how was your date with Martin?" he asked his friend with genuine interest in his voice. Jade frowned at the question; y_ou're supposed to be getting back together with her, not asking her about the guy she's currently dating_ went exasperatedly through the mean girl's head.

"Oh it was great; we went for smoothies then saw a movie and finished up at the food court for something to eat. He walked me home and then," she giggled in a slightly embarrassed way, something that caused Jade to raise her eye-brows in horror as she immediately thought the worst. As Cat was looking at Freddie she didn't see this, though the boy could see her over the red-head's shoulder and his own face morphed into one of concern, a look that the girl in the middle either didn't recognise or chose to ignore. "I INTERVIEWED HIM!" she cried happily. Freddie relaxed visibly at this, though Jade looked rather confused.

"What do you mean, you interviewed him?" she asked in bewilderment. The girl turned to face her.

"For my _Slap_ page," she explained. "We were in my house, I turned my computer's camera on and I asked him some questions. He answered them."

"I know what an interview is, Cat," Jade choked through gritted teeth. "Why did you _interview_ your date?" she asked in barely concealed bewilderment.

"Oh, I thought it would be fun. He had to go right after though," Cat finished sadly before turning back to Freddie. "Can you show me how to put it on to the website?"

"Sure, no problem. We can do it after school if you want. I assume the interview is on your home computer?"

Cat confirmed that it was and Freddie arranged to go with her back to her place before heading to his fencing lesson that night. The bell informed the gang that it was time that they headed to class; Jade followed the pair out and watched them uneasily; the brunette felt more and more that she had her work cut out to help fix things between the former couple.

"Do you think we'll get our song finished today?" Cat asked her friend as they headed for the music room.

"I hope so; we're almost done with it. If we _can_ get it done today then it gives us the weekend to rehearse it before we have to perform it to the class next week."

It was true that the pair were on top of their project, having spent several evenings together trying to get it, and their other work, done. Cat was trying her best to keep those evenings free for them to do so by working her dates with her new boy in with the times that Freddie and Jade were at rehearsals for their play (opening night was fast approaching for the pair) or the other interests that took time out of the Seattle-born's evenings (his fencing and gym sessions with André, the effects of which were certainly interesting many of the Hollywood Arts female population, particularly in the sophomore class). Of course the girls knew that he was "back on the market" by now so there was a general surprise when flutters of eyelashes and flirtatious smiles went almost unnoticed by the boy (though not by his two female friends; Jade was generally infuriated by the attention they were trying to give him, Cat was a little more relaxed now that she was finally dating a guy for longer than a few days again – particularly as her friend wasn't reciprocating the girls' advances). As a result of his non-reaction one or two of the girls had gone so far as to speculate that Freddie's sexuality was the true reason behind his break-up with Lindsey; for the time being, though, it was a rumour that had yet to really catch fire – or reach the ears of his blonde ex-girlfriend.

After music they reunited with their friends in Sikowitz's class; Jade joined them to recreate the trio that were working on their next dramatic scene. They _had_ invited Beck to join them but he decided to work with André's group; the long-haired actor claimed that he felt a little more comfortable in a different group to his girlfriend as it reduced the risk of something spilling over into a big argument in class. Jade was far from convinced by his reasoning but felt that if that was what he wanted then she would be happy enough to continue working with her two friends, though she thought that she and her boyfriend would need to talk about it, among other things, later on.

"So will you guys be fencing tonight?" Cat asked over lunch.

Freddie nodded. "Yes, I have my class and these two will be sparring again. Neither of you are going to take lessons though?" he asked curiously.

"I might," André commented thoughtfully, "I've enjoyed going ever since we started last year so to learn a bit more about it would be good."

"I'd _like_ to," Beck added, "but cash is going to be an issue until I can get a part-time job in a few months."

"You're waiting until you're sixteen before finding something?" Freddie asked in surprise.

"It's just going to be easier; the law's a little less restrictive," Jade supplied.

"Oh, I'm looking at the moment," the ex-Seattleite commented, "for once our performance is out of the way and I've some more free time, especially on a weekend. The extra cash will come in handy even if, from what you're saying, I can't do _that_ many hours yet."

"Looking for some more cash for a reason?" Eli asked curiously, causing his friend to shrug.

"Well my allowance from mom doesn't go that far," he declined to repeat that it was still a paltry eight bucks per month, "though she does pay for my gym and fencing stuff – things she _approves_ of," he dragged out the word with mild bitterness and disgust at the restrictions it imposed on him, "or at least stuff that she can tolerate. So I'd like a bit more cash of my own and some more independence," he concluded with a brief explanation, which the others nodded at.

"Where have you been looking?" Cat asked.

"Everywhere," he shrugged. "The Pear Store would be ideal for me, of course." The others chuckled a little at the veracity of that statement, "I applied there last week but," he continued, "I've looked at a few others as well."

"How does your mom feel about you getting a job?" Jade asked shrewdly.

"As you can imagine she doesn't love the idea," he grinned. "Oh," he muttered as his _Galaxy Wars_ ringtone suddenly emitted from his jeans pocket and withdrew the trusty device, standing and walking a few paces away from the hubbub of the tables and teenagers.

Cat watched him curiously, wondering who he was talking to as he paced a small area with the phone pressed to his right ear.

The girl wouldn't have too long to wait as he returned to the table smiling broadly. "Coincidentally," he announced, "that _was_ the Pear Store; I have an interview tomorrow after school."

"Awesome," André declared, happy for his friend and offering a high-five that the tech producer eagerly returned; the others added their congratulations as well.

"You'll ace it," Eli told him; Freddie nodded.

"I _should_ really, shouldn't I?" he laughed, giving his friend a grateful smile.

"Maybe I should start looking earlier," Beck commented; the idea of getting a bit more cash and even more independence from his parents (he lived in an RV in their driveway after all) was appealing to him. André nodded next to him, thinking that a little more money wouldn't hurt _him_ either.

Last period of the day saw Freddie and Jade together in Theatre History class. As the two were leaving they met up again with Cat, who was waiting in the locker area for them. Freddie quickly deposited a few items in his locker before catching up with the girls and following them out of the main building.

"So I'll swing by yours now and show you how to upload your interview," he recapped, falling into step with the red-head, Jade was a fraction behind them, "then I need to head home, grab my bag and a bite to eat, then I'll hit the fencing studio. Going to be a busy night," he laughed.

"You could have dinner at mine if you like?" Cat offered. "I can fix us something while we're putting the video up."

"That would help, thanks," he told her gratefully.

Jade smiled behind them; even if it was still just friendly, the thought of the two spending a bit more time together would hopefully help her with her aim of getting them back together. She pushed a couple of rather stubborn thoughts to the fringes of her mind and made sure she continued in this vein instead.

"Have you anything planned for the rest of the evening Cat?" she asked as a stroke of inspiration hit her. "I was wondering if you'd help me rehearse a little more."

"Oh I can't, I'm meeting Martin at seven," she sounded genuinely regretful. Jade had to work hard to keep the frown from her face as the red-head turned towards her as she answered.

_Valentine Residence, Hollywood Hills_

"Hey mom, I'm home," Cat called, surprisingly quietly, as she and Freddie entered the house. "My brother doesn't like loud noises," she explained.

"What was that place you went with him over the summer?" Freddie asked as Mrs Valentine joined them, smiling at her daughter and her friend.

"It was a specialist place in Idaho; respite care they call it, it gives the family a couple of weeks' break from having to deal with near full-time care," the matriarch explained wearily.

"Is there anything _they_ could do for him longer term?" he wondered aloud.

"Possibly," she answered with a sigh, "there's a waiting list for full-time patients there though. We _have_ signed up for it so hopefully someday we'll be able to get our boy back."

Freddie bowed a little, reflecting on how awful it must be for the parents to see their son reduced to a shadow of his former self.

"I'm going to fix Freddie and myself something to eat while we put the video I made yesterday on the school website," Cat informed her mother. "He needs to go soon for his fencing lesson," she explained.

"Well I can make you something if you two need to work on it," she offered. Her daughter smiled and the two teens accepted the offer graciously before heading upstairs.

Cat loaded up her computer and found the video file she had recently shot. "Want to see it before we put it up there?" she asked playfully.

"A sneak preview?" he grinned. "Sounds good to me." Cat opened the file and the two sat back, leaning against their chairs.

* * *

Cat was lying on her front on her bed smiling at the camera. "Hey, it's me Cat. HELLO!" the bubbly girl began. "Ok so I'm here in my room and I spent all last week trying to think of a cool new video to put on my Slap page," she snapped her fingers a few times as she continued, "_The Slap dot com_. Then I remembered the guy I've been dating, Martin, so I decided to interview him!" she announced happily. "So, BRB." The teen leaned forward and pressed a button to shut off the camera.

The next scene started immediately; Cat was now sat on the edge of her bed with a dark haired guy, who Freddie presumed to be Martin, sat next to her.

"Hi, I'm back – and this," she tickled the boy's chest, "is Martin. Say hi Martin," she told him giddily.

"Hi," he replied with muted enthusiasm.

"Martin came here to be interviewed," the girl declared as her target palmed his forehead in growing regret over his decision to agree to his belle's request; Freddie briefly speculated on whether the girl had lured the boy there under slightly false pretences.

"So, where are you from?" she began.

"Well I was born in Phoenix but grew up here in LA."

"Nice. Brothers? Sisters?"

"One of each; an older brother and a younger sister."

Cat nodded. "So what sort of girls do you go for? Tall girls?" She leaned in towards him as she continued, "Short girls? Brunettes?" She gathered up some of her hair from her left shoulder and waved it in his face as she continued, "Red-heads?"

"Uh," the poor boy looked uncomfortable, "I don't have a specific type – but I _do_ quite like a short, red-haired girl."

The short, red-haired girl smiled. "Interesting," she noted brightly before randomly changing topic. "Here's a grilled cheese sandwich, just for you."

"Uh thanks," the confused Martin replied before taking a polite bite.

"I made it," Cat giggled after he set the remainder down. "And now, we dance," she announced to his utmost bewilderment.

The video began to fade to black as the pair danced together. "You're a good dancer," Cat commented just before it ended.

* * *

Freddie turned to his friend with a smile as the clip finished. "You like him," he observed.

"He's nice," Cat countered non-committally, keeping her face unusually emotion-free. "So, how do I get it on the website?"

"Alright," the former Seattle native explained after the redhead had logged in to the school's unofficial website. "It _should_ be fairly straight-forward; if it isn't then I _really_ screwed something up," they shared a laugh, "you just click here," he pointed to the appropriate link, "then find the file on your computer," he sat back and let the girl locate it, "click here and… that's it."

"Oh that's so easy," she commented with a smile. "I'll have to upload more things!"

"Go for it, that's the idea behind the site," he laughed along with her enthusiasm.

"Thanks Freddie," she gave him a quick hug, partly in gratitude and partly in trying to gauge his reaction to doing so. He readily returned it but seemed willing enough to release her, and didn't look overly upset to have done so, when she pulled back a little, something that disappointed her a little. _Maybe I really do need to be looking elsewhere_, she thought sadly, though she reasoned that she was having a lot of fun with Martin and it was at least an opportunity to see if there could be anything between the two of them. "I think dinner will be ready," she commented. Freddie nodded and followed her out of her room and downstairs.

The boy left after they had finished eating, thanking Mrs Valentine for her hospitality as he did, and made a quick stop at his own home to swap his school bag for his fencing one. Marissa wasn't yet home so he left a short note, explaining that he had already eaten and would see her after his class, before heading for the bus stop.

_Pear Store, 189 The Grove Drive, West Hollywood, Los Angeles_

_Friday, 23__rd__ October 2009._

Freddie left the store smiling broadly; he had been offered a job on the spot after his interview; he would be working at the store's "Brilliance Bar" fixing and upgrading computers and devices that customers would be bringing in. His contract was signed and he would be working on a Saturday afternoon, starting the next day, and also a couple of hours on Monday and Wednesday nights, with a review of his hours once he turned sixteen in February.

The sound of the traffic as he walked up the street almost caused him to miss his phone ringing; he ducked down a side street to dampen the ambient noise as he answered, having first checked the caller ID.

"Sam? How are you?" he greeted his friend happily and grinned as he heard her response. "I'm having a good day, thanks; I just got a job! You can start trying to get some money out of me again next time you're in LA," he jibed lightly.

"Don't tempt me Benson or I'll be sneaking on the next bus down there," she laughed before turning serious. "I _did_ want to talk to you about something, Freddie," she commented, "I was looking on your school's website last night and I saw that interview that your friend Cat did with that guy. What was his name? Martin?"

Freddie confirmed the boy's identity.

"So are things like, serious between them?"

"Who knows?" he answered lightly and with an unnecessary shrug, given that his friend obviously couldn't see it. "She's been seeing him for a few weeks now but with Cat you can never tell how serious anything is – she doesn't do serious very often," he finished jovially.

"Uh huh. And you're okay with that?" Sam, being her usual unsubtle self, decided to press the issue.

"Why wouldn't I be?"

"I thought that you still liked her."

He took a deep breath and glanced around the area as he pondered on how best to phrase his answer.

_West Residence_

Jade kissed Beck goodnight on the doorstep of her home; the couple had been to the movies during the evening and had plans to see one another at the mall the next day. The girl had been a little distracted at the back end of the date after her phone alerted her to receiving an e-mail on The Slap during the film. She had tried to hide the news from her boyfriend, due to the content and the explanations and debate that would result from sharing the information with him. If he had detected her being a little more aloof then he didn't comment on it; she was still being more affectionate towards him so she hoped that he didn't suspect that anything may be troubling her. She gave him one last kiss goodnight before he turned and left; she leaned against the front door and watched as he headed down the driveway, waving as he turned to give her one last look.

The girl closed the door, pulled her phone from her pocket and re-read the e-mail while she walked past her mother, greeting her as she did.

"Jade?" Mrs West called as her daughter continued, head down and staring at her phone, towards the staircase; she was intending to head to her room to deal with the situation.

"Huh?" she looked over her shoulder at the speaker.

"Have a seat," Mrs West patted the couch next to her, "we don't talk all that often."

The West teenager rolled her eyes a little but complied with the request. "What do you want to talk about?" she asked.

"Oh just stuff. Y'know, about how your day was, what's going on with your life, things with _Beck_. Stuff like that…"

"Mom I know about things with boys, you don't have to worry," she tried to insist.

"I don't _just_ mean that," the matriarch raised her hands in an attempt to calm things a little, "but I am interested in how things in your life are going, including things with your first real boyfriend, especially now you've been together for more than a year."

Jade sighed again, still worrying about it turning into one of _those_ talks.

Half an hour later the brunette had been able to escape to the sanctuary of her room. However there was to be no tranquillity for her as she knew she had another issue to contend with. She booted up her computer and read through the rather annoyed-sounding e-mail on The Slap again, closing her eyes and frowning as she began to formulate a reply.

_Sam,_ she wrote,

_Of course I know about Cat and Martin; she's my best friend after all. I agree with you that it's not a good sign that she's dating him and not Freddie but it really is up to him to figure things out and move on from what happened between him and Lindsey, something that he seems not to be any closer to doing right now._

_I __promise__ you that I'll speak to him, and soon, to see how he is and what I can do about it._

_Jade_.

The girl hit the send button and sighed, resting her head between her hands with her elbows planted on the desk. She closed her eyes and reflected wearily on just how messy this whole thing was starting to become.

_Black Box Theatre, Hollywood Arts High School._

_Monday, 26__th__ October 2009._

Freddie had left the music room shortly after the bell signalled the end of the day; Cat was at his shoulder, the two having spent the lesson making a couple of final amendments to their song and getting it perfect for performance during the following class.

"Good luck Freddie," she had told him as they parted ways at the locker area, "I'll be in the audience to cheer you both on."

The cast of the play were in costume and going over their final preparations for their opening performance. Jade stood next to her brown-haired friend; she had been unable to broach the issue of Cat, Martin and Freddie's feelings over the weekend as she had spent a lot of it with Beck and Cat while the Seattle-born was working at his new job and keeping up with his schoolwork (and his spare time had been spent with Cat practicing their song; the red-head had also helped him with a little more rehearsal for the play, as Beck had done for Jade). The gothic girl mused on just how much simpler it had been to kiss her boyfriend when they had worked through the play together. _Simpler_ – it was a good description as it meant she didn't have to think any more about it; with Beck it didn't have to be a stage kiss, there was no need to try and separate her feelings from her character's or anything like that, she could simply put her heart into it – an experience she was looking to draw upon during the show tonight in order to mask the anxiety and awkwardness she was feeling over those particular scenes since they had rehearsed them a couple of weeks ago.

"Are you ok?" Freddie asked, seeing his co-star's increasingly nervous expression; it wasn't like Jade to appear this emotional, this _vulnerable_ in public, so the boy was concerned.

"_Yes_," she vehemently insisted before smiling at him. "Just wanting to make sure I nail it."

"You will," he reassured her, gently taking her upper arms in his hands and looking her in the eyes, something that did little to alleviate her discomfort at the present moment, "you know the script inside and out, you're… _we're_ ready for this."

She nodded, putting on all the bravado that she could muster.

"Curtain in five minutes guys," Marty called to his charges. The oft-nervous acting teacher was actually in a fairly relaxed mood, having seen how well the youngsters had done in dress rehearsals.

"Let's do it," Freddie declared with a smile and making his way to the middle of the stage, taking a seat on the couch; Jade followed him and sat next to him, indulging in some momentary lock-jaw to keep the nerves from her face. The boy nodded to her in the dim light that made its way to the stage from the wings and past the curtain from the theatre's seating area and shot her another reassuring smile. She appreciated the gesture, though she found herself unable to explain that her nerves were not down to having to do the performance, but more one particular _part_ of it. _Just like you practised with Beck_ was becoming the mean girl's mantra.

"Here we go," the Slap staffer's low voice caused her to turn in his direction; she saw the light dimming beyond the curtain and closed her eyes, allowing her lines to flood back to the forefront of her mind, as she heard the curtain rising, opening her eyes just as the stage lights were turning up.

* * *

"You have to go," 'Freddie' was told while 'Jade' looked on wearing a crestfallen expression as the love of her life was being taken from her.

"When will you be back?" she asked through a few well-crafted tears.

"I don't know," Freddie's voice was soft and he cupped her cheek tenderly; she placed her hand on his to hold it in place as a few stray tears left her eyes. The boy assumed that she was such a good actress that she could cry on demand; in truth Jade was unsure how much was an act and how much was brought on by all her thoughts about the teenager stood before her. He used the thumb of his other hand to softly wipe the tears away. "But I _will_ be back. I love you."

"I love you too," she whispered and slipped her arms around him, turning her head slightly as his hand moved from her cheek to her back. They leaned in and their lips met; for Freddie it was a tender kiss as he said farewell to his girl, Jade drew on the memories of her recent kisses with Beck, closing her eyes and putting her heart and soul into it. They pulled away after a few moments, the meeting of their eyes curtailed as the lighting level on stage dropped, the audience applauded and the curtain began to fall.

"That was awesome," Cat enthused as she clapped wildly in the centre of the auditorium. To her left Beck was also clapping, wearing a passive expression as he did. To Cat's other side Eli and Robbie were also applauding and enthusing over their friends' performances so far. André had been unable to attend tonight as he had to work on one of his own musical performances; he would, however, be attending the following night. "Yay, ice cream," the red velvet-haired girl cried, standing and dashing past Beck and towards the doors so that she could pick up a treat for during the intermission.

Back-stage Marty was in high spirits. "That was dynamite you guys!" he declared, smiling broadly. "Freddie, Jade – fantastic, keep it up," he told his leads, clapping both on the shoulder as he passed them. The boy smiled at his co-stars look, which was a mix of irritation and murderous death glare at somebody, even a teacher, touching her without invitation. He handed her a bottle of water and they began to rehydrate ahead of the second act.

The quality acting continued after they returned from the short break; Cat and the others were disappointed by the lack of interaction between their friends (as they were mostly in different scenes) but the two more than made up for it with their performances and the finale where their characters reunited.

"I knew you'd come back," the girl's voice was soft yet delighted; she sounded almost overcome with the emotion of seeing her lover again. "I never doubted it."

"I promised you that I'd return – and I meant it," his reply was heart-felt and he had a powerful determination in his voice.

"Then promise me that you'll never leave me alone again," she whispered.

"I'm back for good now, nothing will keep us apart," he reassured her.

She threw her arms around him and kissed him again joyfully, showing genuine passion for his return as she did so. They broke the kiss, looked at one another for a long moment, ignoring the applause from the audience. Freddie caught himself in time but the pair still found themselves a little off script slightly by embracing tenderly, with Freddie resting his chin on the top of the girl's head as she nuzzled at his neck; the change took their co-stars a little by surprise as they were supposed to just pull apart, smile at their friends and let the curtain fall. The talented supporting cast were able to cover it, simply looking on and smiling at the reunited pair, though as the curtain fell they did cast a few confused glances at one another.

Up in the audience most of the viewers were unaware of the subtle change; those that _were_ included Cat and Beck. The two shared a quizzical look before joining in with the applause, though privately both found themselves a little troubled by the little alteration to the final scene.

The two teenage actors grinned at one another as they pulled away after their unscripted embrace.

"We need to take our bow," Jade said flatly as she recovered her poise. The girl took his left hand in her right and they made their way to front, centre stage and their castmates lines up either side of them preparing for the curtain to rise again. The students took their bows to rapturous applause before the curtain fell for the final time and they made their way back-stage.

"Can you _warn_ us next time you're going to go off script?"

"Sorry guys, I think it worked quite well though, don't you?" Freddie casually asked his co-star. Jade grinned mischievously and wholeheartedly agreed with his point, happy to be able to use his statement to help cover the uncomfortable feeling she was developing. _A little unscripted hug, that's all it was _she insisted to herself, happy that it meant that she didn't have to feel that she was doing anything wrong regarding Beck. Speaking of whom…

"Hey guys," Cat called as she joined them back-stage; Robbie, Beck and Eli were a few steps behind the eager red-head.

"Hey Cat," Freddie smiled as he pulled her into a celebratory hug. "What did you think?"

"You were great, both of you," she released him and turned to hug her best friend, who looked rather unhappy that the girl did so, although she was willing to accept it without major complaint.

"Nice going man," Beck congratulated his friend and the two shook hands. "You were great too," he told his now-extricated girlfriend and bent down to kiss her cheek. She turned her head to capture his lips and the two began kissing quite enthusiastically, a little to the embarrassment of their friends as they witnessed the rather intimate moment.

"I'm going to get changed, see you guys in a minute?" Freddie asked, thankful to have a ready-made excuse to depart the scene momentarily. The others waved him off and withdrew a few steps from the still-kissing couple.

Inside his dressing room Freddie closed the door and leaned against it. Feeling so comfortable around Jade – for some reason it bothered him. _She's Beck's girlfriend, yes we're close and she's been my confidant, a shoulder to cry on quite literally and my emotional crutch over all the _Lindsey_ chizz_, he rationalised, _and she's hot – there's no denying it – but that's it_, he squared his jaw and turned his thoughts to another of his classmates. _What about Cat? Yeah I like her but she's happy with that Martin guy right now and… am I even _ready_ for something else?_ He closed his eyes and groaned as he thought for the first time on just how much things with Lindsey had messed him up; he had _avoided_ thinking about it for all this time but now he found himself having to try and work through it all. _It doesn't matter_, he decided, _I'm not ready to put my heart out there again right now – to risk another girl breaking my heart like that_. With that he was able to tuck the chizz back into the corner of his mind where it couldn't bother, or hurt, him and let the adrenaline rush heighten his mood again.

Happily back in control of his feelings and his emotions again, the boy changed out of his costume, showered and dressed back in his own clothes before making his way to meet the others.

* * *

**AN: Thanks for reading, feel free to drop a review and let me know if you liked or hated it. I hope to see you all next week for chapter 6.**


	6. Chapter 6

**AN: Hello everyone and welcome to the latest chapter of this story; I hope you have all had a good week. As always I'd like to start by thanking everyone for reading and, in particular, reviewing last time around; I appreciate all your feedback.**

**EnchantingNightmares – yes there was a little more Freddie/Jade interaction in that chapter, I'm glad you're enjoying their friendship.**

**Fanfic-Reader-88 – ah the complicated love lives of fifteen-year-olds eh?**

**Challenge King – yes Jade is perhaps over-compensating for what she found herself thinking and feeling about Freddie by focussing more on Beck. Freddie does need to deal with stuff and move on, but it's taking him time. Will it take him too long and cost him another shot at a certain red-head? Who knows.**

**OneHorseShay – yes Jade is in a bit of denial and as I said above maybe overcompensating by her focus on Beck (horror of horrors, a girl being attentive to her boyfriend!) Freddie **_**has**_** seen again an example of the girl's loyalty; it all depends on whether he's looking, particularly at another guy's girl. Mrs West probably wouldn't want to talk about Freddie; they've only met the once and, while they're friends and were in the play together, there's little reason for her to wonder about him at this time. Perhaps he is too desperate and building up too many walls to protect his heart but he may feel that's all he's got left after what he's experienced so far. Hopefully he can work through the pain and decide that some girls are worth risking the pain for.**

**Agent-M – toying with the idea of Jade? Maybe he'd consider it if Beck wasn't in the picture but I doubt, even if he was ready for something, that he'd make a move on a girl that was "taken".**

**Ok, on with the show.**

* * *

Chapter 6

_Swordplay Fencing Studio, __416 S Victory Blvd, Burbank, CA_

_Thursday, 12__th__ November 2009._

Freddie stood leaning against one of the pillars on the main floor of the studio; the Seattle-born teen was watching as André and Beck practiced against one another, the two having just finished their first official lesson (they had been sparring and learning from their friend up until this point).

The two boys had both recently acquiesced to Freddie's urging them to start formal tuition; they had both recently landed part-time jobs at the Green Meadow mall so they now felt able to afford to take their shared hobby a little more seriously. André also had to finance his gym membership; he and Freddie still went once a week (they'd like to go more often but with Freddie working Mondays and Wednesdays, André working Fridays and their fencing on Thursdays that only left Tuesday evenings, plus they still had their school work to keep on top of). For his part the brown-haired teenager was loving his new job at the Pear Store, he too was earning reasonable money and able to enjoy a little more independence from his mother's prescriptions on what he can and can't spend cash on. Beck, despite not joining the other guys at the gym, had his own demands on his finances; Freddie joked with him about how much feeding Jade's coffee habit must be costing the Canadian-born actor, something his friend readily confirmed.

The subject of Jade had briefly been an awkward one for the two; Beck had privately felt a little troubled by how close his girlfriend and Freddie appeared to be. The play that had recently starred the pair had served as something of a tipping point for the taller teen's suspicions, having seen how they interacted on stage, the amount of time they had been together rehearsing and even before then, dating back to last term, he was now re-evaluating his opinion of what he had seen transpiring between them; originally he had jumped to the conclusion that Jade was being partly responsible for Freddie's low spirits at the back end of their freshman year but now, having seen them interact a little more, he wondered just how much _worse_ his friend would feel had his girlfriend not been there to lend some emotional support – and just how unusual it seemed to him to think of Jade in terms of someone who _would_ provide such support to somebody.

True to his usual self Beck had not broached the subject with anyone, preferring to jump to his own conclusions, but the fact that his girlfriend had been far more affectionate towards him in recent weeks was enough to convince him that all was well again in their relationship. Freddie and Jade still talked during breaks but only as part of the group. He felt that his fellow Los Angeles immigrant was still a little sombre compared to his "pre-Lindsey" self but put it down to the boy being single again – and seeing Cat still being in a relationship.

Their red-haired friend had been dating Martin for a few weeks now and was still talking happily about the time that she spent with him. In a quiet moment Jade had pulled the girl to one side and asked how serious it was between them; Cat replied that they hung out and had a lot of fun but, aside from a couple of stolen kisses at the end of their more recent dates, nothing much had happened between them so far, nor was she in a hurry for it to go any further just yet. Jade had relayed this news to Freddie rather excitedly, hoping that it would convince the boy that he still had a chance with their friend; the conversation hadn't gone exactly the way she had hoped.

"_Honestly Jade, I'm really not sure about dating anyone right now; I'm still hurting."_

"_Do you seriously think that _Cat_ would hurt you like that?" _she sounded a little incredulous.

"_No but…"_ she eyed him expectantly, wondering what the "but" would turn out to be, "_she broke up with me once before; it didn't hurt anything like what Lindsey did but she did end things between us – and that led to Lindsey._"

"_You're blaming _HER_ for what Lindsey did?_" Jade asked in shock.

"_No, not at all – that's all on the bitch,_" he spat, "_but I don't think I want to put my heart out there again; I'm not ready to take that risk right now._"

André removed his facemask. "Dang that was good," he declared. "The lesson definitely helped," he continued enthusiastically.

Beck nodded beside him as he removed his own mask. "Hey Freddie, you want to spar?" he called.

"Sure," the brown-eyed teenager grinned as he pushed himself off the pillar. He gathered up his epee and facemask and joined the actor on the matted area; André took his position watching, leaning casually against the same pillar as his friends touched swords and started their bout.

The long-haired actor was brimming with confidence after his lesson, maybe too _much_ so as he approached the shorter teen. Freddie's greater experience and ability helped him to easily evade the other's moves before landing a touch with a lazy motion that struck home before Beck could organise his defences. This spurred the Canadian fifteen-year-old on to redouble his efforts; he took Freddie a little by surprise with his frenzied moves but the boy was equal to everything until his opponent suddenly slipped a little as he stretched before he groaned and clutched at his right knee as he fell to the ground.

"Are you ok man?" Freddie asked in concern, removing his mask and walking over to his prone friend as André hurried over to join them.

"No," Beck winced through his facemask, "my knee… when I slipped, argh," he groaned in pain.

"Ok, get him to my car," one of the instructors demanded the other two boys as he strode over to them and felt the injured knee with his hands. "I'll take him to the hospital to get it looked at properly. You guys want to come with him?"

Freddie nodded, though André said he needed to get home to be with his grandmother so he, with regret, left the studio after helping Freddie bundle Beck into the instructor's car.

_Providence Saint Joseph Medical Centre, 501 S Buena Vista St, Burbank_

The car had quickly traversed the short distance to the hospital and soon the injured teen was sat in reception while the instructor spoke to staff.

"How are you feeling?" Freddie asked the invalid.

"Oh I'm ok," Beck shrugged nonchalantly. "There's a bit of pain and I don't want to stand on it but I'll be fine." Then he winced, belying that statement as a stab of pain shot through his leg. He began to massage it in the hope of relieving some of the pain.

"I'm sorry," Freddie told him guiltily, looking at the floor.

"Hey it's not your fault dude," he was told. "I was feeling cocky from the lesson and I overdid it; it's one of those things," and he offered his hand, which his friend shook readily.

"Beck Oliver?" A doctor called; the long-haired boy looked at him and confirmed his identity. "I'm Doctor Levinson. This way please," he gestured with his arm and waited for the group to rise.

Freddie stood up and helped his friend along, supporting his weight to keep it off the injured knee; the instructor did likewise on the boy's other side and the three followed the medical professional to an examination room.

Two floors up from them Marissa Benson was taking a quick break on her shift; she had missed her official break, the perils of being one of the Head Nurses, so she took advantage of a lull in the workload to head for an area where the use of cell phones was permitted. She knew that Freddie would be home from his fencing lesson by now and wanted to check up on her son. She was surprised, and a little worried, when his phone went to voicemail, particularly as he so seldom switched the device off – and he was expecting her to call as she normally did when working nights. She tried him a second time, with the same result, before scurrying to her locker where she fished in her bag for the locator unit. She switched it on, only to be stunned by the pronouncement,

"_Locating… Benson, Fredward_. _Benson, Fredward located. Zero point zero miles north west._"

"He's here?" she gasped, mind racing as she set out in search of answers as to why her son was in the hospital; she had envisaged several horrendous scenarios before she even reached the staircase.

Freddie clapped a hand to the back of his head as he heard the now-too-familiar echo in there. Fortunately he had just deposited Beck in a chair where a nurse was attending to him (and very happy to do so; she was smiling flirtatiously at the teenager, who grinned back). Ordinarily this would have concerned Freddie, knowing of course that Beck was Jade's boyfriend, but he had his own troubles to contend with at this moment. He intended to speak to the doctor about it only to be surprised when _he_ was approached by the medic instead.

"Could you turn your phone off please? The transmitter will interfere with some of the instruments when we do the MRI."

"It _is_ off," he said in mounting confusion. "I switched it off when we parked up."

"Well you have _something_ giving off a signal," the doctor complained.

"I don't know what that could be," he shook his head dismissing the idea before deciding that he really did need to mention it, no matter how crazy it sounded. "Doctor…" he deliberated on his words; talking about 'voices in his head' didn't seem like a good way to phrase it, "just before you came over I kind of _heard_ something, almost like an echo – I couldn't make out _exactly_ what it said but it's something that has happened a couple of times before over the last year. And now you say I'm transmitting some signal even without my phone on. It sounds crazy but… could they be connected?"

"I have no idea," Doctor Levinson admitted, "_but_ if you want to leave all your valuables here," he handed the boy a box, "I can take you for an X-ray and we can have a look?"

The star fencer nodded and followed him to one of the hospital's X-ray rooms.

"Stand there please," the nurse gestured to the wall. Freddie stood where he was told and let the machine do its thing. "The results will be ready in a few minutes," she told him. He thanked her and followed the doctor back to check on Beck, who was having the MRI scan on his knee when they returned to the room; the nurse from before still smiling at him from her vantage point at the machine's control panel.

The nurse they had left bustled in a few minutes later holding a couple of items; she handed them to the doctor who looked hard at them and then turned to his patient.

"There's _something_ there in the back of your head, it looks like a small metal object. Very possibly that _is_ what was transmitting then. He scratched his chin thoughtfully.

"The last two times it's happened my mom has shown up soon after," the boy began slowly, "some kind of _locator_ chip?" he speculated in horror.

"It's possible," Levinson shrugged, "such a device isn't unheard of – they're used more in animals because it would be a dubious practice to put one in a human."

Freddie shook his head in disgust. "Can you get it out?" he asked.

"Tonight?" He sighed; his schedule wasn't _too_ busy this evening. "Well I guess we can prep you while Beck is being looked at and we _should _be able to. I'd like to keep you here overnight for observation with doing a procedure involving the head, would that be a problem?"

"No, not at all; I've nothing to go home for," he lamented bitterly.

"Ok then, go with the nurse please."

An increasingly frantic Marissa was rushing from room to room looking for any sign of her son; she had intended to try the locator again to see if he was still in the hospital but was panicked when the machine suddenly sent out a distress signal and flatly refused to track him afterwards.

"Something's happened to the chip," she complained in a low mutter, unaware that the X-ray that found it had damaged it with the radiation and drawing confused looks from her co-workers as she scampered around the building.

Finally, having failed to spot the boy and needing to return to work soon, she asked the receptionist, "Has a boy called Freddie Benson been admitted tonight. I'm his mother," she told the girl, who she knew by sight.

"Uh," the girl answered; she wasn't supposed to divulge the information without proof but the imposing figure of Head Nurse Benson scared her, and most of the other staff if truth be known, and she didn't want to get on the woman's wrong side. "Let me check," she said as she scanned the in-patient list. "No Bensons admitted tonight, no."

"_Any_ teenage boys?"

The younger employee eyed her reluctantly but acquiesced. "Seven. Beck Oliver, Steve –"

"Beck?" Marissa interrupted. "He's one of Freddie's friends, _that's_ where he'll be. Which room?"

"Doctor Levinson took him and two others; one _was _a boy his age and the other was an older guy. They went to Room 107."

"Thank you," Mrs Benson called distractedly as she bustled off to find her baby boy.

The reddish-brown-haired woman barged through the door to room 107 much to the surprise of its denizens.

"Nurse Benson?" Doctor Levinson looked up at the newcomer. "What can we do for you?"

"I'm looking for my son; he came in with this young man," she gestured to Beck. "Have you seen him?"

"Freddie's _your _son?" The doctor asked in surprise. "Yes, he went to be prepped for surgery," he continued casually, knowing that it would get under the paranoid woman's skin; the nurses in the room grinned behind their hands as Marissa's look morphed into one of abject horror.

"Surgery? What happened to him?" she screeched at Beck and the boys' instructor before turning back to the medical staff. "How can he be having surgery without being admitted?"

"We found an object, some sort of chip by the looks of it, in his head when we x-rayed him," the doctor explained with a note of deep disapproval, silencing the head nurse in an instant. "Freddie asked me to remove it so he's having the surgery tonight."

"Where is he?" she demanded before her pager beeped. She glanced at it in annoyance at the summons.

"I think you're presence is required elsewhere," Doctor Levinson told her and turned back to Beck's scan pointedly. Marissa glowered for a moment before storming out of the room vowing that this wasn't over.

The local anaesthetic had Freddie a little disoriented while the surgery was being performed; soon however his head was chip-free again and he was sat up in a bed flicking through one of the well-thumbed and somewhat out-of-date magazines scattered around the hospital.

"Hey." He looked up to see Beck hovering in the doorway on crutches. "Some night huh? You bring me here because I injured my knee and _you_ end up being the one having to stay overnight."

"I can't believe my mom _chipped_ me!" the short, brown-haired teen snarled. "I knew she was overprotective but _seriously_?" He shook his head in disgust before spying the object of his ire through the gap between Beck and the door. Marissa looked in their direction and, spotting Beck, walked over to them, quickly registering the sight of her son in one of the beds.

"Freddie!" she cried, pushing past Beck and almost knocking him over as she rushed to her son's bedside. She was surprised by the dark look he wore on his face as she approached.

"Mom," he said emotionlessly.

"I was so _worried_ when I found out you were here," she began, in the hopes of placating him.

"Well you don't need to worry anymore," he said, then continued in a terse tone to answer to her confused look, "I've had the chip removed – yes I know all about that, I can't believe you'd do something like that to me, keeping tabs on me night and day – and I'm moving out." The nurse gasped and Beck looked on in surprise. "Yes," Freddie concluded, "once I'm out of here tomorrow I'll pack my things and I'm going."

"Don't be so silly, where will you go?" she demanded of her son.

"Wherever it is I won't have to worry about whatever crazy stunts you are going to pull on me next."

"Freddie!"

"I mean it mom, tomorrow I'll be gone. Now, the doctor says I need to get some rest." And with that he slid down to lie in the bed and rolled onto his side with his back to his mother.

Marissa stuttered for a few moments before turning and leaving the room. Beck, meanwhile, hobbled over to his friend's side.

"Where are you going to go?" he asked.

"I don't know," the boy admitted, "but now I'm working I can find _somewhere_ cheap to crash for a while."

"How about my place?" his fellow immigrant offered.

"Your place?" Freddie asked in surprise before chuckling softly. "Dude thanks for the offer but you live in an _RV_; there's not going to be enough room for me to move in is there?"

"No, I mean mom and dad's house," his long-haired friend clarified. Freddie looked at him in amazement. "I'll ask them but I'm sure that they'll be cool with it; _I_ don't want to be there because I don't want to have to live by their rules but…" he tailed off awkwardly; Freddie smiled at his discomfort, thinking that he was reading his friend's mind.

"But even with their rules they won't be as crazy as _my_ mom," he supplied.

"Something like that," Beck grinned.

"Well sure, if they're cool with it then I'll move there," he enthused.

"_There_ you both are," their instructor said thankfully, having found them. "I know _you're_ going to be staying here Freddie but Beck, I'll give you a ride home. We need to leave _now_ though."

"Ok," he acknowledged before turning back to the boy in the bed. "See you later man," he waved to Freddie, who returned the gesture.

_Oliver residence, Hollywood Hills_

Beck's return coincided with his one of his mother's concerned glances through the window of the living area; she had expected her only child to return a few hours ago and he was not answering his cell. Her concern heightened considerably as she saw him emerge from an unfamiliar car holding crutches and a large bulk around his knee visible through his jeans. Mrs Oliver rushed to the front door and down the driveway to where her son's fencing instructor was helping him gingerly from the car and supporting him until he got his balance right.

"Beckett? What happened?" she called in dismay.

"Relax mom, I just hurt my knee a little while sparring with Freddie tonight after my lesson. I overdid it; it was my fault and I'll be on these for a couple of weeks."

"Come inside," she demanded as the instructor retreated, unwilling to embroil himself in this debate, "I know you want your space but I'm not having you living in that trailer while you're on those things."

"Mom," he complained but was overpowered and outnumbered as his dad joined them in the driveway and, agreeing with his wife, also insisted that he come inside.

Mrs Oliver was soon plying the boy with hot drinks and questions as she sought to ascertain the extent of the damage. It didn't take long, however, for him to deflect attention onto his friend by telling the story of his MRI.

"… and the doctor told Freddie to turn his phone off, but it _was_ off; turns out it was detecting some sort of tracking chip his mom had had implanted in his head!"

"What?" the Oliver parents gasped. "What kind of parent does that to their kid?" Mrs Oliver wondered aloud.

"I don't know but Freddie's had enough; you remember the story from his birthday right?"

The parents nodded, recalling their son's tale from the events of that evening and Mrs Benson's general attitude.

"Anyway," Beck continued, "he told her he's moving out. How would you feel about maybe letting him stay here for a while? He has a job and he'd be happy to pay some rent."

"Well he _could_ take your RV now that you're back here for a bit," Mr Oliver suggested, "if that's ok with you, and then we'll see how it goes by the time you're off those things."

"I guess," Beck said weakly, a little less certain about giving up his own little private place, though he had to concede that he wouldn't be using it any time soon. "I'll let him know tomorrow."

_Asphalt Café, Hollywood Arts High School, Los Angeles_

_Friday, 13__th__ November 2009_.

"She _chipped_ him?" Jade asked incredulously as her boyfriend recounted the previous evening's entertainment for them. She shook her head and took a draught of her coffee, momentarily stopping rubbing his wounded knee sympathetically; Beck was privately a little disappointed at the curtailing of her affectionate gesture. The gothic girl had been expecting a phone call from the Canadian-born actor after the boys' fencing session and had been concerned when she didn't hear from him. He had called this morning, explaining that he was getting a ride in and out of school with his father for the next few weeks due to his injury (a strained knee; it wouldn't require surgery, just a lot of rest).

"Why would she do something like that?" Cat wondered aloud.

"Man, that woman's a nut," Rex supplied, much to Robbie's embarrassment.

"Rex!" he gasped, however none of the other teens seemed particularly scandalised by the puppet's description of their friend's mother.

"I'm just sorry I missed all the fun," André contributed. "So is Freddie going to be in school today?"

"He should be; he was being discharged first thing and heading here." The long-haired boy kept to himself for now the fact that he had fixed things up with his parents for Freddie to move into their home.

"Well he's going to be late for first period," Eli commented with a shrug as the bell peeled. The group left their table and headed for class.

"So how was everyone else's evening," Beck enquired as he limped into school. Understandably the sight of him on crutches, along with André's comment before he had arrived that the teen had been injured while fencing, had led to him, and latterly Freddie, being the main topics of conversation for the gang before school began this morning.

"I spoke to Martin last night," Cat volunteered with a shy grin. "We're going to see a movie tonight."

Behind the red velvet-haired teen's back Jade frowned slightly at this little bit of information. Her expression darkened further as she remembered Freddie's words from their recent chat: _it's all on the bitch_. That he thought of Lindsey like that, even if Jade personally thought it was quite an apt description of the blonde junior, troubled her as it implied to her that he was no closer to coming to terms with their relationship, break-up and what had happened to him after the Prom. _How long is he going to need?_ She wondered. _Maybe he needs to speak to someone…_

"So you start your new job and now you won't be able to do it?" the gothic girl teased her boy as they sat in class together, seeking distraction from her concerns over her "mission" to reunite Freddie and Cat.

"I need to call them, thanks for reminding me. _Hopefully_ we can arrange something where I can still work but just sit there rather than walking around the place, otherwise you're right." He was working in one of the Mall Food Court stands so he was hoping that they would let him sit at the cash register and work from there; it was something he would suggest when he called his employer.

"How long are you on crutches for?" Eli asked.

"The doc thought anything from two weeks to a month, then take it easy for another month or two – gentle exercise, nothing too strenuous," he shook his head; he'd just started his fencing lessons and now he'd be missing out on them for until the New Year at the earliest, something he lamented about to André; the songsmith was equally disappointed, both for his friend and the fact that he was losing a sparring partner at a similar level to himself.

Freddie was absent from first period but arrived midway through his second class, dance, which he shared with Eli. He gave a hurried apology to the teacher, explaining (in ways of the truth, nothing but the truth but not the _whole_ truth) that he had spent the night in hospital following an accident at the fencing studio. The teacher accepted the explanation and gave him details of what the class were doing; he found a partner (one group had had to form a three when the others had paired off) and got to work, though his mind was still on recent events.

He had, in fact, not come to school direct from the hospital but had called in at home first, thankfully avoiding Marissa when he did. He quickly packed his clothes and some other essentials (including his laptop computer and other techie stuff that was "essential" to him) before heading to school; a trip that took longer than usual as he was weighed down with so much stuff. He had placed the valuables in his locker and left his case of clothing in the computer lab, trusting both that nobody would _want_ to steal it and also that his friends on The Slap, who he knew between them would be in the room all day, would keep an eye on it for him (he had texted a few of them to let them know he was leaving stuff in there).

Eli had the chance to catch up with him in the changing rooms after their lesson.

"Hey," the sandy-blond greeted his friend. "Beck told us what happened; you're _really_ moving out?"

"Yes," the tech producer confirmed, "I need to speak to Beck to finalise all the details but I've got all my stuff here so I don't need to go back – at least not until I'm sure mom's not going to be around so that I can get the rest of my things.

"Well good luck dude," the other said, touching his forearm briefly in a show of support. Freddie nodded and smiled to his friend as they left.

"Hey, you're here!" Cat greeted her friend exuberantly as he and Eli arrived in the Asphalt Café for lunch, swamping the brown-haired boy in a tight hug. "How are you since they cut your head open and pulled the chip your mom put in there out?" she asked descriptively.

"I'm wazzed off," he admitted. "I still can't believe she'd do that to me."

"And you had no idea at all?" Jade added.

"It's not exactly the thing you expect your mother to do, is it?" he asked her; the girl nodded her acknowledgement of his point. "And yet… a couple of times I'd heard this like… _echo_ in my head, then she'd shown up – remember when she stormed into the fencing studio?" he turned to André with this question; the songsmith nodded. "Then there was the day we were at the mall a few weeks ago," he indicated to Cat; the redhead recalled that his mother had called and shown up a little unexpectedly, "so when I heard it _again_ in the hospital I began to wonder what it was all about and then the doctor did an x-ray and here we are." He shook his head again.

"And you really moved out?" Cat enquired.

"Yeah, all my important stuff is here ready to be moved to my new home."

"About that," Beck piped up; Jade turned to her boyfriend with a quizzical expression as their friend feared the worst. "My mom has insisted that I move back in so she can 'mother' me," he air-quoted the word and pulled an annoyed face, "so they suggest that you take my RV instead." He wore an expression that suggested he wasn't entirely comfortable with the proposal, something the other boy picked up on immediately.

"You'd rather I didn't?" he guessed, trying to keep his tone even.

"Go for it," the long-haired actor forced himself to say. In truth he _was_ uncomfortable giving up his little piece of freedom, though he could force himself to see his mother's point and reasoning; living alone would be tricky while he was on crutches and he could see the need to give his parents peace of mind that he was ok.

"Thanks man. Hopefully you'll be off those things soon and you can get your place back."

"So I'll see your parents a bit more often when I'm over then?" Jade asked as she walked hand-in-hand with her boyfriend on the way back into school.

"Is that a problem?" he asked, slightly hurt.

"No," she answered awkwardly, "it's just that… I get the feeling that they don't _really_ like me."

"They don't hate you," he tried to reassure her; he failed to do so given that he had switched the focus of their feelings in such a way. She turned to look away from him to hide her frown, feeling that these next few weeks could provide another little test for the couple.

"Do you need some help moving your stuff?" André asked as he and Freddie made a brief stop at their lockers; Cat hovered by the former iCarly's elbow as the two were in the same science class and she wanted to walk to class with him.

"I _should_ be ok, but thanks for the offer," he assured him. "Maybe if I move some more stuff in a day or two I might need a hand; if so I can let you know. I'll see how I settle over the weekend."

The talented musician nodded; Freddie sighed as his phone's ring tone played. He pulled it from his pocket, spied the caller's ID, declined the phone and stowed the device back in his jeans.

"My mom," he answered Cat's questioning look. "I _really_ don't want to talk to her, especially as she's likely realised that I've taken a lot of my stuff."

"So she'll know you're really moving out?" the cupcake-loving girl supplied unnecessarily; he nodded.

"Yes, she'll have figured it out so I need to keep where I'm going _to_ from her until I'm settled, otherwise she'll try and force me home again."

"What if she just comes here?" the girl wondered as they waved goodbye to their friend, who was in a different class.

"I don't know," he admitted, "but it likely ends in a shouting match between us somewhere in the school. It won't be pretty."

The girl nodded uncomfortably and took his hand gently to show her support. The two shared a warm smile and Freddie briefly squeezed his friend's hand as they continued their walk through the school; he was surprised at just how natural it felt to be holding the red-head's hand again after so long. Half-way to class, however, a thought suddenly occurred to the boy and he released the girl's hand as suddenly as if it had started to burn him.

"I'm sorry," he mumbled, not quite meeting Cat's eyes, nor taking in her surprised and slightly hurt look. "You're with Martin so I shouldn't have…" he trailed off awkwardly.

"It's ok Freddie," she reassured him, "it felt nice." She took it again. "See?" she said, smiling at him.

"You don't think it's a… a _betrayal_?" he choked out. "You and he are dating so to be holding hands with another guy…" again he felt unable to complete a sentence.

"No," she said simply, "but if it really bothers you then," she reluctantly dropped his hand, "let's just get to class."

They shared another little smile and walked to their lesson in a comfortable silence.

Freddie's fears about his mother's intrusion turned out to be unfounded; to his relief Marissa didn't show up at school, doubtless fearing a public confrontation that would risk exposing the reality of what she did to a wide audience, maybe including her son's teachers. The boy left along with Beck and Jade; the couple were going to spend the evening together at the Oliver home as it would be difficult for them to go anywhere in Beck's current condition. The trio met Mrs Oliver in the parking lot and Jade helped Freddie to load his things into the matriarch's car's trunk before they got in; Freddie was in the front passenger seat to allow the couple to sit together in the back – and to let Beck's mom "interview" the new lodger.

She asked a number of probing questions about his reasons, still slightly dubious of the existence of the chip (though she believed her son). A quick glance at the back of the boy's head (a patch of hair had been shaved prior to the minor operation) and the scar and stitches visible were more than enough to dispel her doubts. A peppercorn rent was agreed upon by them; Freddie would have been happy to pay more but was thankful for the low figure as it meant he could begin driving lessons now that he had his permit. The thought that him driving a car would further horrify Marissa was an amusing one for the boy.

"Here we are," Beck announced after Jade helped him out of the car and he opened the door to his RV. "Make yourself at home," he invited his friend graciously as he looked around. "Oh, you've moved all my stuff already?"

"Yes, your father and I moved everything that you'd packed up; well we knew you couldn't do it at the moment," his mother noted. He nodded and stepped to the side as Freddie hauled a bag into the trailer and set it down.

"Ok, we'll leave you to settle in," Mrs Oliver told the newcomer. "Dinner's in about an hour, we'll see you then?"

"You will. Thank you Mrs Oliver," he smiled as the lady retreated, followed by the young couple.

"We'll see you soon," Jade said; Beck waved before hobbling towards the main house supported by his girlfriend. Freddie moved his other things into his new home and began to unpack; settling back on the bed once he had finished.

"Casa del Freddo," he muttered with a smile as he looked around the place and surveyed his newfound freedom. He picked up his pear phone and dialled his best friend.

"Hey Sam, you'll never guess what's been happening here," he began, happiness to be talking to the blonde mingled with the weariness of the events of recent days.

* * *

**Thanks for reading; please don't be shy about reviewing and I hope to see you all again soon for the next chapter. PD.**


	7. Chapter 7

**AN: Hi everyone and welcome to Chapter 7 of this story; I hope it finds you well. As always my thanks go out to everyone who read and reviewed Chapter 6.**

**Fanfic-Reader-88 – yes that's a fair description of Marissa, but then we know that from the show.**

**Challenge King – yes Jade is still trying her best to get the two of them back together and Beck, albeit reluctantly, was willing to give up his little enclave for his friend (especially as he's not using it right now).**

**Agent-M – Freddie's father? Little if anything is actually known about him (I believe somewhere, maybe on the iCarly website, he was named as Leonard but nothing else is known. Who knows, maybe he's out in LA somewhere?)**

**Pbow – I've no idea on the legalities of it, though I'd suspect it's not something she could be tried for as it was done by a "questionable Venezuelan doctor" so it was likely that the surgery was done in South America; I have no idea if a US court would be interested, unless it was evidence of her fitness, or lack thereof, to be a parent. Cat came up dry, but why? Because he's not interested or because she's currently dating someone else so Freddie wouldn't make a move even if he wanted to? Maybe we'll find out in time. As for Freddie moving in with her family… nice idea, it would certainly horrify Marissa.**

**Ok on with the story.**

* * *

Chapter 7

_Hollywood Arts High School, Los Angeles_

_Monday, 16__th__ November 2009_

Freddie was smiling as he, Beck and Jade arrived at school together. The Canadian teen's mother would be giving the boys rides to and from the Oliver home over the next couple of weeks while her son was still on crutches after his accident at the studio. Jade had made her way to the house before school to meet her boyfriend so there had been three teenagers in the car this morning.

The main reason for Freddie's high spirits was that he was revelling in the freedom of his new surroundings. His mother still didn't know where he was living and her increasingly frantic calls were being ignored or deflected by the boy, something else that he was enjoying immensely.

He grinned happily to himself as he walked, a step or two behind the couple; Jade had her arm looped through Beck's as he needed his hands free to manipulate his crutches and he smiled briefly at the closeness of the couple before reflecting a little mournfully on his own love-life – or lack thereof – at the moment before his grin returned as he recalled what had occurred during his shift the previous Saturday, the day after he had moved to Beck's RV.

_Pear Store, __189 The Grove Drive, West Hollywood, Los Angeles_

_Saturday, 14__th__ November 2009._

The tech genius was working behind the store's Brilliance Bar; it was a busy shift for the youngsters in the area as there had been a recent influx of repairs and what seemed to be an unusual spate of damages to Pear phones. He therefore was blissfully unaware of his mother's arrival at the bar until he heard her distinctive tones, thanking his lucky stars that his workstation hid him from view of anyone on the customers' side of the counter.

"I want to talk to Freddie Benson," the irate matriarch had demanded; Freddie groaned and mouthed "I'm not here" to his colleagues, who nodded supportively as most had heard the story, given their curiosity over why a patch of hair had been shaved from the back of his head.

In accordance with his wishes, any of the boy's colleagues in the vicinity vehemently denied any knowledge of his whereabouts; meanwhile his supervisor merely commented that he was busy working and wouldn't be available until his break in a couple of hours. An irate Marissa began to rant and rave and was promptly escorted from the store by an obliging security guard.

_Monday, 16__th__ November 2009_.

The brown-eyed boy _had_ texted his mother on the Friday evening, following his chat with an incredulous Sam, to inform her that he was ok, though he had ignored her reply demanding to know _where_ he was. He had been forced to switch his phone off after declining her tenth call (aside from however many she had tried to place while he was talking to the Vegas-based blonde). This had clearly failed to satisfy his mother's demands for knowledge of his whereabouts, hence her visit to his place of work that morning. He remained hopeful that she wouldn't attempt to ambush him at school, but continued to fear the worst and keep a watchful eye out for her, mindful of the fact that she had shown up at Ridgeway in the past to confront him while they still lived in Seattle.

The three teenagers met up with their friends, Cat, André, Eli and Robbie in the Asphalt Café; the others were eager for news of how Freddie was settling into life with the Olivers.

"It's great," he enthused, "I'm really enjoying the freedom – I can see why you like it there," he told his friend and landlord with a smile.

"Don't get _too_ comfortable," Beck warned him jokily, "I'll be back in there once I'm off these things and then _you_ can deal with mom and dad."

He chuckled lightly at the actor's words, knowing the truth behind them; he was fully prepared to live under the Olivers' roof, and grateful to have a place to stay that didn't involve dealing with his mother, but the total freedom he had right now was something he had never been able to experience before – and something he knew it would be tough to give up.

"Do you want some company this evening?" Cat asked as they walked to first class together. "We could make a start on the science homework we got last time?"

"Uh sure," he answered, caught a little off-guard, "unless you and Martin have plans."

"No, no plans for Cat tonight," she announced a little more loudly and exuberantly than was really necessary.

"That'd be great then. I have work for a few hours after we finish here but shall I see you there around eight?"

"'kay 'kay," the ebullient red-head smiled as she swept a few stray hairs casually over her shoulder; they continued their walk with the girl edging a little closer to him as they did, almost close enough to bump arms as they made their way across the school.

The tech producer knew from her shift patterns that his mother was working day shifts all of this week; he hoped that, despite his fears and concerns, it meant she would be unable to find the time to visit (or ambush) him at school and that it would give him at least a few days of peace (aside, of course, from the near-relentless telephone calls). So it seemed perhaps a strange decision when, over lunch, he acquiesced (seeing the dozens of missed calls while his device had been on silent during the school morning) and answered a call from her.

"Hey mom, how are you?" he asked casually. At the table his friends looked on in surprise at his decision to talk to her.

"How am I?" she near screeched; he flinched and moved the phone away from his ear; just for fun he put it onto speaker so that his friends could enjoy the scene with him. "I'm frantic and worried sick about you Freddie Benson; you get home right now this minute."

"That's a little difficult mom; I have school today," he pointed out wickedly; Jade grinned widely at his retort and only forced herself to maintain her composure so that she could clamp a hand over Cat's mouth as the usually-giggly girl threatened to outright explode with laughter.

"Then right after school I expect to see you at home."

"I _will_ be at home, my _new_ home," he replied evenly. "I live there now."

"_Where?_" she demanded.

"Goodbye mom, I'll talk to you later." He rung off, turned his phone back on to silent and returned it to his pocket before carrying on with his lunch.

"Look at you all grown up and standing up to your mom," the brunette teased in an impressed voice; he chuckled a little at her observation, noticing Beck's face momentarily contort into a slight frown before he joined the group's laughter.

"How long do you expect to stay there for?" Cat asked him.

"Until Beck kicks me out or she apologises for what she did and agrees to stop treating me like a baby."

"Has she said anything about the chip?" Eli enquired. Freddie shook his head.

"Not a word. I think she's trying to pretend it never happened in the hopes that I'll just forget about it. That is not going to happen," he resolved testily.

"Couldn't she just _demand_ that you come home though?" Robbie pointed out. "I mean you're still only fifteen, a minor, so she could _force_ you to come back."

"She has to find out where I am first," he shrugged. "And if she _did_ try anything then we could easily get into debates about her fitness to _be_ a parent given the chip and a few other things from over the years." He barked out a brief, mirthless laugh before continuing, "and you guys thought she was bad at my birthday party. So anyway, I've taken up far too much of everyone's time with this chizz; Cat," the red-velvet haired girl's gaze left her food and she turned to face him, "I never asked this morning, how was your weekend? Did you see Martin?"

"I did," she said, surprising the boy with the fact that she was not smiling quite as much as she usually did. "We saw a movie on Friday and spent some time walking around the mall yesterday, had a smoothie. I had a nice time with him but…" All eyes turned to meet her brown ones as she trailed off, "I just don't know whether we… _click_ like that. He's a nice guy, really cute and an alright kisser but I don't think that we're going to be together too much longer." There was a note of sadness in her voice; she was clearly disappointed by the prospect of another failed relationship. Jade, meanwhile, had to work hard to suppress a look of triumph that one obstacle to her 'mission' could soon be overcome; Robbie also widened his smile a little, something that piqued Eli's interest given his own brief attempt at dating the girl. Freddie, meanwhile, tucked the revelation away in a corner of his mind, wondering whether it, and their brief hand-holding the previous week, were connected to her desire to hang with him and do homework this evening. _Does she still like me in that way?_ he found himself wondering as the others talked around him; he was completely unaware of the conversation continuing as he retreated into his own thoughts and mind. _How do I feel about her?_ was his next question, realising that he had pretty much tried to turn his emotions and romantic ideals off like a tap since that September evening when Lindsey had unceremoniously dumped him on the eve of their return to school. He then thought of his recent talk with Jade and about how his retreat had been an attempt to protect himself and his heart from any further pain. _Do you really believe _Cat_ would do that to you?_ the brunette had asked him.

To his surprise, and concern, he found that this last question troubled him more and more; as he had pointed out to the girl, Cat had broken up with him before (admittedly over the actions of other people – namely Marissa and Carly). They were a year older now, _theoretically_ a year more mature (he ruefully thought that HE certainly had grown up a lot since his move to LA, though he had to admit that he saw little evidence of it when it came to his red velvet-haired friend) so he hoped that she would be able to function better in a relationship these days – though again her recent track record implied otherwise. _If she_ does_ like me like that still_, he reasoned, _then maybe we could try again, but is it worth the risk? I'd never want to feel about her the way I do about Lindsey now – I can't imagine going through my life hating her…_

"Earth to Freddie?" Jade's sharp voice pulled him from his thoughts; he turned to the speaker with a distracted expression.

"Huh?" he muttered.

"You zone out there a little, man?" André asked.

"Just… you know, thinking," he shrugged.

"Must have been some pretty deep thoughts to miss the bell," the pink streak-haired girl observed coyly, mentally noting that his "zone-out" had started the moment Cat suggested that her fledgling relationship was on the rocks and hoping that in this instance she wasn't putting two and two together and making five. "We need to go," she told Beck and helped him up, holding him steady until he was ready to support himself on his crutches; she looped her arm through his again and they left, followed by Robbie, Eli and André.

"You coming?" the talented musician asked, seeing Cat hadn't moved.

"Oh I'm just waiting for Freddie," she noted as the distracted Seattle-born teen finished gathering his things together, "we'll be right behind you."

The songsmith nodded and the three boys left the two of them alone.

"Thanks for waiting; you didn't have to, I could have caught up," he told her casually as they walked.

"It's ok," she said happily; the two continued to chat lightly and, in Cat's case randomly, as they made their way to the Maths department where they found Jade already in her seat and biting her lip to keep the grin from her face at the sight of the pair looking, again, so comfortable together.

"So you and Cat are going to be hanging together tonight?" she prompted during the break between periods; the shorter girl had headed for the restroom and the other two hovered in the locker area waiting for her return before going their separate ways (Jade to English, Freddie – and Cat – to music).

"Yeah, like she said she wants to do some studying and look at the science homework that we have to do."

"How do you feel about that?" Jade probed.

"Fine," he answered with a slightly confused shrug, as if wondering why it should be a problem, "I enjoy hanging with her – with _all_ of our little group."

The dark-haired girl rolled her eyes. However, before she could press the issue, André and Beck passed them; the injured teen stooped for a brief kiss from his girl and the other two boys exchanged pleasantries before the red-head's return prompted them all to go to their respective final class of the day. Jade sighed in mild annoyance as she watched the pair's retreating backs headed for the music department. _I have to talk to that boy_, she determined before heading for her English lesson.

_West Residence, Hollywood Hills._

_Tuesday 17__th__ November 2009_.

Jade had surprised Beck by declining a ride home with his mother after school; instead she had informed her boyfriend that she and Cat would be hanging at her home this evening, news that even surprised the red-head, at least until Jade's trademark glare convinced her that it was a good idea to agree.

The gothic teen used their evening as an attempt to glean information from her friend about how her evening with Freddie the previous night had gone; the child-like teen's answer had simply been to discuss their study session and, when pressed for details of anything else, had told her that nothing else had happened.

"Did you at least _try_ to make something happen?" the exasperated gothic girl had snapped a little.

"We talked; I sat close to him, smiled a lot."

"And what was his response?"

"Oh he wanted to know if I'd spoken Martin about what I said at lunch."

"And what did you say?"

"That I was seeing him on Friday."

Jade had rolled her eyes in abject frustration at that point. _Obviously_ Freddie wasn't going to try anything, even if he wanted to, while he _knew_ that she was dating someone else. She wondered why her friend hadn't just said that she was going to break things off with the other guy and make it clear that she was still interested. _Sometimes_, she thought ruefully, _I wonder whether this plan is worth all this trouble_.

_FunXional Fitness, 4111 West Alameda Avenue, Burbank, California_

Straight after they left school Freddie and André had made their way to the gym for their weekly session. The two sophomores completed a punishing half-hour cardio work-out to begin with before taking a well-earned breather by the gym's water fountain.

"So how was Cat last night?" the musician enquired.

"Oh she was fine," the tech genius answered. "She still struggles a little with the science but I think she's getting there with most of the basics now anyway."

"And how are you?"

Freddie took what he tried to make out to be a casual sip of water in order to avoid answering the question too quickly. He opted to play dumb and simply turned the question around with one of his own, "I'm fine. Is there a reason that I shouldn't be?"

"You've been down ever since you broke up with your girl," the talented singer pointed out regretfully, "it's been tough to see you like that since we got back to school. Then on top of that you're missing a patch of hair because you had a chip taken out of your head – a lot of people would be messed up by all that chizz," he noted reasonably.

"It _has_ been a tough couple of months," Freddie conceded, "but I'm getting there with it all. Mom's out of my hair – what's left of it," he chuckled darkly, running his hand over the back of his head, and his friend smiled at his little joke, "and I don't have to deal with any blonde juniors anymore at school, so it's all good."

André nodded loyally but chose to keep his concerns to himself for the time being; _sooner or later you're going to have to really deal with all of this Freddie_.

_Beck Oliver's RV_

_Friday, 20__th__ November 2009_.

The rest of the school week had passed fairly uneventfully for the gang. Beck had a check-up at the hospital one week after his scan; the actor learned that he was progressing well and should be off his crutches in another couple of weeks. Jade had been unable to find a time to speak to Freddie alone due to their busying workloads as the term drew on, in addition to his time that he had spent working or on his hobbies outside of school. Finally, though, she realised that it was time to do so, particularly after a surprising talk with André the previous day; the songsmith had mentioned his concern to the group over Freddie's state of mind (while Freddie was in his _The Slap_ meeting that morning) and it had been enlightening for her to discover that she wasn't the only one who was concerned about the boy, something that she followed up with him that afternoon while they were between classes. She had been visiting Beck anyway this evening and, upon leaving the main house, saw that a light was on in the RV – not too surprising as it was only around ten o'clock on a Friday night, so she decided, given that she assumed he was alone, that this was the perfect opportunity to talk to her friend.

Jade glanced back to the house and, unable to see anyone at the window who might wonder about her paying a visit, late at night, to a guy who lived on his own in an RV – far away from parental supervision, she knocked smartly on the door.

"Jade?" Freddie asked in surprise as he opened the door to reveal the faintly-smiling girl, "what are you doing here?"

"I've spent the evening with Beck and I want to talk to you now," she explained.

"Okay then, come in," he was a little surprised and confused but stepped back from the door and allowed her access.

"How are you?" she asked, letting a little concern slip into her voice, electing to stand while he sat next to the pillow on his bed.

"I'm fine," he reassured her with a small smile as he looked at her.

"No you're not," she contradicted, giving him a piercing stare, "you're still cut up over what Lindsey did and you can't move on from it – and her."

Freddie was well used to his friend's bluntness after this time but it was still a little surprising to hear her psychoanalyse him so readily. They stared at one another for a few seconds before he swallowed and leaned back against the wall of the RV as he responded, "Okay, you're right. What she did _does_ still hurt – and I don't want to be hurt again."

"So you're going to spend the rest of your life alone? That's the big plan now?" Jade sounded incredulous; in reality she was trying to point out what she saw as a rather absurd viewpoint, if indeed that was how her friend was feeling.

Freddie bit his lip to give himself time, rather than simply firing back an instant reply. "The rest of my life?" he wondered, slowly and thoughtfully. "Maybe not that long but right now? I'm afraid; I don't want to get hurt again – and I couldn't bear to be hurt by Cat. The thought of hating her the way I hate… _her_," he refused to even utter the name of his blonde ex-girlfriend, "I couldn't bear that," he finished in a low whisper.

Jade nodded sympathetically; while she, and when she'd pressed him Freddie himself, didn't believe that Cat would ever hurt him that way, the fear of hating the girl was somewhat less illogical than some of the other theories and obstacles that the gothic girl had considered.

"Maybe you should talk to someone about all this," she suggested.

"A therapist?" He raised his eyebrows at the suggestion. "No thanks, my mom has one and I think it just makes her worse."

The girl ran her hands through her hair; his experiences were shaping his reactions in such a way that it was getting more and more difficult to try to help him through his problems. "So what's your plan then? Keep brooding until you wake up one morning and you've magically snapped out of it?" she fired tersely.

"I just need some time," he protested weakly, the words sounding hollow as he thought about her argument.

"It's been two months and you're no different than you were a couple of days after we got back to school," she snapped before pointing out in a softer voice, taking a seat next to him on the bed, "you already know she won't wait forever." Jade placed a gentle hand on his shoulder and gave him a sympathetic look; the identity of the _she_ in question was not in any doubt. Freddie nodded.

"I don't know, the idea of telling someone _everything_ that went on, particularly someone who'd maybe make a big deal of it, I'm really not sure about that."

"It _is_ a big deal," the dark haired girl shot back, "you need to get through this – and what happened with your mom – so that you can get on with your life and be happy. And if you're worried then don't be; whoever it is would _have_ to make anything you said confidential or they'd be fired the same day they opened their mouth."

"I still don't like the idea of spilling my guts to someone I don't know or trust, but I'll think about it," he promised.

"Good boy," she teased wickedly before getting up to leave.

"Jade?" The girl turned back at his call. "Want a drink before you go?"

"Sure," she agreed with a smile; Freddie headed to the fridge and produced a couple of bottles of peppy cola.

It was around eleven-fifteen before the brunette eventually left the RV, after they'd had their drinks and chatted a little more; Beck happened to be glancing towards the window when he saw the brief additional illumination of the front yard that resulted from the RV's door being opened to allow his girlfriend to leave. Out of curiosity he hopped over to the window on his good leg, resting the palms of his hands on the windowsill to support his weight and keep it off his injured knee. He gave a curious look as he saw the obvious form of Jade's retreating back as she made her way slowly down the driveway, looking as if she was using her pear phone while walking; Beck scratched his chin thoughtfully as he wondered why his girlfriend had just spent over an hour in his RV alone with their friend.

_Valentine Residence_

Cat had returned a little earlier than expected from her date with Martin; the two had talked and it had been a perhaps surprisingly frank and honest talk about how they both saw things between them. For the boy's part he felt that the red-head was a nice girl but suspected a lack of commitment to anything with him at this time and outright asked her whether she felt it was worth carrying on with anything if that was, indeed, how she felt.

"I guess you're right," she conceded sadly, and a little to his own surprise and disappointment. "I love hanging out with you – and you _are_ a good kisser – but I don't know that I want to be seriously dating you, or anybody else, really at the moment."

"Anybody _else_?" he picked up on the stray word with a little confusion.

"There was one guy," she began, "we dated a little last year but…" she shook her head at the memories, "some people didn't like the idea of us together; his mom, one of his friends – and I let them break us up. I've regretted it ever since, then he got with another girl; they're not together now but he's still really cut up over it."

"Then I guess you really need to talk to _him_ and find out what's going on," Martin said, giving the girl a sad smile. She nodded and flashed him a grateful little smile of her own. "Still friends?" he asked, offering his hand.

"Friends," she grinned and shook it. "Hey, it's still early; do you want to see a movie with a friend?" he asked hopefully.

"Sure, why not?" he agreed; he was as relieved as she was that he now knew where he stood, even if it was a little disappointing as he quite liked the pretty teenager. "I'm picking the movie," he told her assertively, figuring that now they were 'just friends' that he didn't need to subject himself to another chick-flick or kids' movie that was the staple choice of the Hollywood Arts student with him.

The girl had explained the evening's events to her mother after returning home; she hadn't mentioned Martin's 'advice' about talking to Freddie, nor about her still being hung-up on him or he on Lindsey, simply saying that they decided that they were better off as friends and that she had enjoyed hanging with him and seeing a movie together. She had received some surprising news herself, however, as Mrs Valentine relayed the contents of a phone call that she and her husband had received while the girl was at school and that they hadn't had time to share with her yet, not least because they'd had to discuss exactly what it would entail.

"The clinic in Idaho called," she began, after asking her daughter to sit down. Cat smiled, knowing how much the respite care had helped the family over the summer and even given a slight improvement to her brother's condition, though he was starting to regress again as time moved on and the memories of the clinic faded. The girl felt that another couple of weeks there over Christmas could really help him, and the family, out. "They're in a position now to accept him as an in-patient for a residential stay."

"What does that mean?" the scatter-brained girl asked.

"It means," her dad informed her, "that he'll be there for as long as he needs to be; it could be six months, it could be two years, it could be longer. It all depends on how he responds to the treatment. They _are_ confident, having assessed him over the summer, that they can really improve his condition, but there are no guarantees and he almost certainly won't be like he was before this all started."

Cat nodded quietly; to be without him for such a long time would be difficult, but it was for the best for him – and would help the family a little to not have to deal with him on a daily basis.

"So when does he go?"

"_We_ go there after Christmas," her mother corrected, "the spot is available from December 27th so we'll travel up there and stay in the area while he acclimatises to the new surroundings."

"How long will that take, I'm meant to be back at school just after New Year's," the teenager pointed out.

"I know sweetie," her dad said with a sigh, "which is why we've arranged for you to stay with your Nona for a little while; we think we'll be there with him for a month at least."

"That long?" she gasped.

"Yes, and with the end of the semester, your tests and a few other things, we think it would be better for you to move in there just after Christmas before we go, rather than coming up to Idaho with us."

"'Kay 'kay," she nodded, mind a whirlwind at this news.

_Saturday, 21__st__ November 2009_.

Beck was a little disappointed the following morning when he struggled downstairs; he was hoping for the opportunity for a little chat with Freddie about what he and Jade were doing in the RV the previous evening. The Seattle-born was not at breakfast, having decided instead to go straight to work and get something on the way there. It was a slightly brooding Beck who sat through breakfast, unsure about just how much he trusted his girl and his friend.

His parents, however, misinterpreted his silence for frustration with another issue.

"It's just another couple of weeks," his mother told him with an encouraging smile, "then you'll be off your crutches and you can be back out there under your own roof." There was a faint trace of bitterness in her voice at the thought of her son being back out there alone given how much she enjoyed having him back in the house, though she knew that he would much prefer to have his independence back.

Because he really didn't want to go into any details, or give anything away about his feelings, the boy said nothing about his true feelings, preferring just to brood on the situation until he could talk to either Jade or Freddie about it, instead he simply smiled at his mother and thanked her quietly for her encouragement and understanding.

Freddie, meanwhile, was finally ambushed on the doorstep of his workplace; having stopped for breakfast he was cutting it a little fine to make it on time for the start of his shift, so he sighed and rolled his eyes a little as he spied his mother near the doorway as he approached the Pear Store.

"Freddie!" she called to him as he approached.

"Hello mom," he responded tersely, standing stock still as she launched into a hug, having not seen her 'baby boy' properly since that night in the hospital.

"I've been so worried since you left," the Benson matriarch lamented.

"I've been fine; I told you that I was," he remarked casually.

"_Where_ are you staying?"

"I need to get to work; my shift is about to start."

"Freddie!" she complained; he sighed.

"Mom; Thanksgiving is this Thursday so I've no fencing lesson; I'll be over to spend the day with you and we can talk then. But for now I _have_ to get to work." He _also _neglected to say that he had invited Sam to visit for Thanksgiving, despite how awkward the arrangements could be given everything that was going on at the moment; he wasn't sure how anyone, particularly the Olivers, would feel about the prospect of her staying with him in Beck's RV for the night, but he also knew that there was no way she would stay in the house with Marissa and without him either. The boy was dreading the logistical nightmare that the evening would entail.

"Call me tonight," then she grimaced and locked her jaw a little before choking out, "_please_."

"I'll call when I get back to where I'm staying and we can make arrangements for Thursday,"

"Where is that?"

"Bye mom, I'll talk later," he blew her off and entered the store, glancing at the clock and noting that it was a minute before his shift was due to start. He walked briskly to the brilliance bar and snuck behind it, greeting his supervisor and co-workers before nipping to the clocking-in machine and swiping his ID card.

"Just in time," one of his friends commented with a grin as he returned to his work station.

"Yeah I got way-laid by my mom on the way in," he complained.

"You're still not back at home then?"

"No, I'm free and loving it," he grinned and turned to the device on his desk that was in need of repair.

_Oliver Residence_

_Sunday, 22__nd__ November 2009_.

Jade strode confidently up the driveway and rang the doorbell of the main house; she had marched right past the RV as she was here to meet her boyfriend and head to the mall with him for the afternoon. Freddie, she knew, was going to be busy with his homework anyway and given his limited time at the moment, between his new job and his hobbies, she was unwilling to disturb him.

Mrs Oliver greeted her at the door and welcomed her into her home; still neither she nor her husband were delighted by their son's choice of girlfriend but they were willing to set that aside a little so long as she continued to make him happy.

Beck received a kiss to the cheek from his girlfriend and the young couple sat together in the living area for a while. Mrs Oliver offered the girl a Wahoo punch; she accepted politely, as did her boyfriend, and they talked while finishing their drinks before Mr Oliver drove them to the Green Meadow mall where they would see a movie and get a bite to eat (Beck wasn't really up to walking around the mall on his crutches).

"So what do you want to watch?" Jade asked as they stood looking at the list of movies.

"Actually I'd like to just sit for a while over there," he gestured to a secluded corner of the area; a confused Jade acquiesced and they made their way over.

"Is everything ok?" she asked.

"Yeah," he began casually, "I was just wondering what you did with the rest of your Friday night after you said goodnight to me."

"Oh," she began, hesitating for a second. "I figured, since I was passing, that I'd call in on Freddie and see how he was getting on; you know he's had a rough time of it since Lindsey broke up with him – _and_ we're all still hoping that he and Cat get back together so we just talked about what was going on with him and whether he was any closer to making a move towards her again."

"And is he?" Beck asked, now feeling genuinely relaxed following his girlfriend's frank admission of what she had done; there was no denial, no lie, no claim that she had gone home so he felt no reason to suspect her of any wrongdoing.

"I'm not sure," she admitted. "He seems a little calmer but still balked at the idea of talking to someone about it – and I don't think he's going to snap out of his funk until he does. I suggested Lane and he said he'd think about it, but the more _I_ think about that the more I think that was his way of saying no to me."

"Why does it matter so much to you?" the Canadian-born asked curiously; it was unusual for the mean girl to take such an interest in somebody else's life.

"Freddie confided in me a couple of times over the whole _Lindsey_ thing," she began cautiously, determined not to breach her friend's trust yet wanting to provide her boyfriend with a satisfactory explanation. "He's my friend, he's messed up and I want to help him. I _also _want _Cat_ to be happy, and I think those two would make each other happy, so I'm trying my best to hook them up again – if only they'd both actually listen!"

Beck nodded. "He's lucky to have you as a friend and willing to do that much for him," he commented, happy that – because of what he'd thought earlier, and the fact that he trusted both his girlfriend and the Seattle-born – he was able to push one question out of his mind. _Just how much ARE you doing for him?_

* * *

**AN: Thanks for reading; please don't be shy about adding a review using the box below to let me know what you think of how it's all going, and please come back again next week for the next chapter.**


	8. Chapter 8

**AN: Hello everyone and welcome to this special Thanksgiving chapter of A Place To Call Home; I hope that you all had a pleasant week. My thanks, as always, go to everyone who read – and especially the four kind souls who reviewed – the last chapter.**

**Fanfic-Reader-88 – I'm not sure how bad it was to encourage his co-workers to tell a little white lie; he just didn't want to have to deal with Marissa so he encouraged them to deny all knowledge and give him some peace at work.**

**Challenge King – yes a lot is still going on regarding the whole Freddie/Cat issues and Freddie refusing to budge to Marissa's demands is, I think, something that he needs to do. I think he **_**does**_** need some help, whether he agrees and actually wants to go and get some, however, is debatable.**

**Pbow – some very valid points, particularly about the life-long hook-ups. I guess it's a hazard of our 'ships', that we obviously want to bring them together and it to last so we idealise it somewhat. As above Freddie probably does have to talk to someone and really come to terms with what happened between him and Lindsey. But he has to find someone to talk to and, of course, **_**want**_** to talk to someone before that can happen.**

**Agent-M – yes Beck is a little more bothered than he usually lets on right now. Maybe because Jade, on the show, never actually gave him any reason to doubt her yet here he can see her and Freddie are unusually close and that bothers him? I'm glad that you like the universe and the themes that are being explored.**

**That's everyone so let's get on with the story.**

* * *

Chapter 8

_Lane Alexander's Office, Hollywood Arts High School, Los Angeles_

_Monday, 23__rd__ November 2009_.

Cat Valentine sat nervously on the couch in the school Guidance Counsellor's office; she was skipping the start of her lunch period in order to make this preliminary appointment in the hope that Lane could help her with how troubled she was feeling at the moment. Ever since her mother had given her the news that she and Mr Valentine would be taking her older brother to Idaho, and that she would be living with her grandmother for a month or so the red velvet-haired girl had felt that her life, and all that was familiar to her, was beginning to spiral out of control.

"So what's the real problem, Cat," the counsellor, reclining in his wicker chair, tried to establish after her preliminary preamble concluded. "You don't want to live with your grandmother?"

"No, it's not that at all, I love my 'Nona'," she insisted brightly, actually smiling at the thought of living with her for a while, "but I just…" she paused and took a breath as she tried to organise her thoughts, her face falling again as she did, "I'm going to miss mom and dad – and my brother – and it's going to be weird living there."

"Does she live far from here?" the African-American enquired, wondering if that was part of the problem; that she would also be losing contact with her friends outside of school – and have a more difficult time of it _getting_ to Hollywood Arts.

"No, she lives near Sherwood so it's not that far away," the girl responded, "but as much as I always enjoyed going there when I was little, it's just different, you know? And not having mom and dad around, it's just going to be weird."

Lane nodded. "It's just for a month isn't it? With school, end of semester tests, the _Showcase_," for it had recently been announced by Principal Eikner that the school's Big Showcase event was being moved forward to the end of the first semester in order to give the Senior class a little more exposure a little earlier; this was happening at the behest of the studios, recruiters and other industry professionals who may want to sign the talented students. "The time will fly by," he attempted to convince her, "and they'll only ever be on the other end of a phone, or a web chat. I know it's unfamiliar but it shouldn't be _that_ bad should it?"

"I guess not," the teenager conceded, "and hopefully they can make my brother better, that would be great."

"Then look at it as something you have to just suffer for his sake," Lane suggested; Cat nodded with a smile. "Now, anything else that you want to talk about while you're here?"

"Not today," she declined, "but maybe we could talk next week, after Thanksgiving?" She began to get up from her seat.

"Sure. I'll see you later Cat," he smiled at the girl as she gathered her bag and skipped out of his office looking a little more positive than she had when she entered. He rested his elbow on the arm of the chair and his head on his hand as he thought about the young red-head. Despite their little chat he was becoming concerned about her reaction to the news and her brother's condition in general; he hoped that the boy's time at the 'Special Hospital' would prove as beneficial for his sister as it did for him.

_Benson Residence, Hollywood Hills_

_Thursday, 26__th__ November 2009_.

Marissa Benson bustled agitatedly around the kitchen as she began to prepare the Thanksgiving Day meal for herself and her son. _And that blonde hoodlum_, she thought in annoyance; Freddie had reminded her the previous night, when she had called to make sure that he _was_ actually going to come along for the family day meal, that Sam Puckett would be visiting (given that she barely considered her own mother and the latest guy in the elder Puckett's life – another one that she privately referred to as 'loser boy' to be family) and spending the day, and overnight, with them. The younger Benson had agreed to stay over that night, as it was the holiday and his friend would be there, but had warned Marissa not to expect it to become permanent again. Despite this, she hoped to be able to persuade him before he left for his lengthy Black Friday shift the following day; the Pear Store wanted all hands on deck for the anticipated avalanche of customers and bargain hunters to the store. For the chance to bring her boy back home she was willing to put up with his friend, under protest.

_Greyhound Bus Lines, 1716 East 7th Street, Los Angeles_

Freddie sat by the stand where the inbound bus from Las Vegas was expected; having confirmed everything with Sam he had mailed her an actual return ticket (he had bought it after receiving his first cheque from the Pear Store) and the blonde had confirmed receipt of it. He wasn't alone; Cat was sat in the next seat to him and was finally filling him in on the latest news about her family's proposed temporary relocation to Idaho, having chosen to conceal it from the group (apart from Jade) while she attempted to come to terms with the situation.

"So your brother could be there for _two years_?" he asked, a little surprised at the potential duration of the boy's stay.

"My brother's pretty messed up," she admitted sadly.

"What actually happened to him?" Freddie enquired curiously, "if you don't mind me asking," he added hurriedly, knowing that it was a deeply personal matter for the Valentine family.

"No, that's ok," she reassured him, patting his arm gently; he smiled softly at her little gesture. "He fell out of a fourth-storey hotel window in Las Vegas when I was little and landed on a shuttle bus; he's never been right since."

The Seattle-born teen covered her hand with his own sympathetically and gave it a gentle squeeze; she stopped patting his arm and gave him a sad yet grateful smile. "There are other things too, but most of it seems to have started from that day," though any further exploration was curtailed as a bus pulled in to the stand in front of them. "She's here!" Cat cried instead with a broader grin and the teenagers began to scour the windows for any sign of the little blonde. Freddie spotted her grinning cheekily at them and waved; Sam waved back and got out of her seat, happy to see her friend – and to see him looking so comfortable with the red-head.

"Hey Freddie," she greeted him as she bounded down the steps of the bus and into his waiting hug. "Cat," she hugged the red velvet-haired teen in turn. "You been holding out on me?" she whispered to the boy in a low voice but smiling widely.

"Huh?" he whispered back in confusion.

"You two just look very… cosy together there is all," she shrugged.

"Oh," he remarked, getting her meaning, "Cat just came along because she wanted to see you and we were just talking."

"Uh huh," Sam responded in a mix of disappointment and suspicious disbelief, not that she thought Freddie would outright lie and deny it if something _was_ happening between himself and Cat, especially as the blonde thought that she had made it abundantly clear that she approved, and was also actively encouraging him to get back with her. "I need to grab my bag," she informed them and made her way brusquely to the front of the group gathered around the luggage compartment, from which she retrieved a small case.

"I bet that brought back some memories," Freddie teased mirthfully. She shrugged and laughed along happily with the pair, noting that Cat was leaning against his right arm and the boy doing nothing to discourage it.

"Ah it wasn't so bad," the newcomer shrugged, "though I will admit that having a seat _is_ more comfortable." She gripped his forearms with her hands and their eyes met, "Thank you Freddie," she told him sincerely before leaning over to whisper in his left ear, "Now how _are_ things with you and that girl?"

He rolled his eyes a little before giving a side-long glance to Cat; he knew, of course, that she and Martin had broken up, though the girl hadn't gone into details about why they had done so (beyond what she had said recently about them not 'clicking' like that). She had also spent the last couple of days voicing her concern over the goings-on with her brother and the upheaval, however temporary, that that would cause in her life.

Then there were still the issues in his own life that he had to deal with; though he _had_ thought a lot about what Jade had said the previous week he was unwilling to try too hard to find someone to talk to about them; he really didn't like the idea of opening up to some stranger and talk about it all, preferring to chat about things to Sam's surprisingly sympathetic ear over the phone (though even with the blonde he was reluctant to go into too much detail as he didn't want to use her as a dumping ground for all of his problems and troubles).

"Later," he muttered, seeing that his former nemesis was still eyeing him expectantly. She nodded, understanding that the ex-iCarly tech producer didn't want to say too much in front of the red-haired girl who would obviously be the focal point of their discussion. He took the blonde's case from her and the three walked to the bus stop to get a bus back to Hollywood.

"I'll be glad when I can afford a car," Freddie commented as they stood waiting; both girls raised their eye-brows a little at the pronouncement. "Yeah," the brown-haired boy elaborated, "now that I'm working – and since I don't have _Sam_ here to keep in food now that she's in Vegas," he laughed, as did the two girls, "I got my permit so I'm going to learn to drive and _hopefully_ find a cheap car before too long."

"That'd be great," Cat cried, "then you could go anywhere you needed to whenever you had to."

"Yes, I'd have a little more freedom and flexibility," he agreed.

"What does your crazy mom think of that idea?" Sam wondered aloud.

"She doesn't know; I don't live there anymore."

"You're staying away for good?" the blonde was both surprised and impressed by the idea.

"As things stand, yes," he confirmed. "If she apologises and agrees to be more reasonable in the future then we'll see."

The two girls nodded their understanding of his reasoning. Their bus arrived shortly after and soon the trio were back in Hollywood.

"Have you heard from the others?" the red-haired girl asked her friend. "Do you know how they're all spending the day?"

"With family I imagine," Freddie commented. "I know Eli and his parents went up to San Fransico last night to his grandparents' place. André, I think, has his grandma coming over. Robbie – I'm not sure, he never really went into details about it but Beck and Jade are going to her father's house, which should be entertaining."

"Why?" Sam asked.

"Mrs West is going with them; Jade told me they've not had too much to do with him since the divorce."

"It's true," Cat piped up, before she continued in a lower, more sombre tone, "I don't think she hears from him at all other than her birthday and Christmas so it was kinda out of the blue that they got the invite this year."

"I should have asked Beck to take one of my small cameras and videotape everything for us to watch the fun later," the brown-haired teen commented ruefully.

"I've _finally_ rubbed off on you Benson!" Sam declared triumphantly, though it privately concerned her to see a vindictive side to the boy coming out.

"Ok, I need to get home; my Nona's going to be there along with everyone else," Cat smiled as they disembarked the bus. "I imagine we'll talk a little about arrangements for when I stay with her. Will I see you before you go back?" she asked Sam.

"I leave tomorrow; there's no point me staying with your mom while you're at work," she noted bluntly to Freddie, who smiled his understanding; he was sure Marissa didn't want the blonde trouble-maker there alone with her any more than _she_ wanted to be alone with the Benson matriarch, "so it will have to be the morning." She retrieved the return portion of her ticket and a timetable from her jacket pocket and checked the time. "I need to be at the bus station for 10 tomorrow to get the early bus so I'll leave "Benson Manor" around 9." Freddie rolled his eyes slightly at the description of his former home, though he would admit that it was a bit of a departure from the close quarters of the apartment that he had spent his formative years in in Seattle, or indeed his current residence. "If you're around before then then you'll see me. If not then it will have to be the next time I'm in LA," she finished with a slight tone of regret.

"'Kay 'kay, I'll try and be here tomorrow morning then." The bubbly girl surprised the blonde by flinging herself on her and hugging her, before she gave the brown-haired boy a slightly longer and tighter hug before she sped off in the direction of her own home; Sam smiled again as she watched her depart.

"Come on, let's go," he urged her and they made the short walk back to his home; Freddie was eager to get some details about how her life was going in Nevada. Sam willingly answered his questions, explaining how the fresh start had worked wonders for her and she was actually doing a little better in school, "_though I still have a habit of falling asleep in the boring lessons_," she noted; the blonde hoped, though, that she would get the chance to press him further on how things were with Cat and whether he was ready to make a move yet.

"And by the boring ones you mean all of them?"

"_Most_," she clarified with a light chuckle. "So how many of your family are going to be here?" his friend asked in trepidation as they arrived outside the Bensons' front door.

"Uh, my mom's cousin and her daughter, Stephanie should be here by now. My mom's sisters – my aunts Jennifer, Susan and Millie will all be there too. Oh," he pulled a face and wrinkled his nose, "that means Amanda will be there too."

"Gross," Sam shuddered, recalling the one and only time that she (and Carly) had met Freddie's cousin in the past.

"I know," the boy complained. "Ah well, we'd better show willing I guess," and he opened the front door to reveal his mother's extended family sat around the living area.

"Freddie! It's great to see you again," his aunt Susan cried, rising to her feet and engulfing him in a hug. "Oh, are you his girlfriend?" she asked, turning to the blonde.

"No," she snorted out a slightly affronted laugh, "just a friend who didn't want to spend the day with my own 'family'," she almost spat out the final word, preferring not to think of her mother – or twin sister – as such. She found herself briefly wondering when she'd next see her sister; the girl preferred to stay at her boarding school, pretty much alone, for the long weekend rather than go and see her mother and sister.

"Hey Sam," Amanda greeted her, hugging the blonde before she could escape of fend her off. It was a testament to the girl's attempts to change her ways that she allowed the younger girl to survive such an act. Freddie suppressed a grin, though he was amused at the irate look on his best friend's face as his cousin released her. Fortunately the boy was quick enough to move into the living area where he greeted his other aunts, thus prolonging the period before he'd get his own 'greeting' from the girl.

He had hoped to get away with a simple "Hey Amanda," over Jennifer's shoulder but the teenager was determined to give him a hug.

"I feel the need to shower now," he complained to Sam as they escaped the gathering in order to take her bag upstairs to the guest room.

"Me too," she noted, "she hasn't improved since I last saw her."

The girl "unpacked" by simply opening her case and tipping the contents onto the bed.

"Ok," she said pleasantly, "that's that done." Her friend smiled and shook his head, wondering how much was Sam and how much was the thought of what his mother's reaction would be if she walked in and saw things strewn across the bed so untidily. He suspected there was more than a little of both to it.

"You know," he muttered in a low voice as they descended the stairs, "if you'd actually unpacked properly and a bit more tidily we could have avoided Amanda for longer."

Again the blonde teenager found herself having to swallow down her natural urges and tendencies – as well as having to concede that the brown-haired teen was right. "Who'd have thought being a dork had its advantages?" she settled for joking lightly, nudging the boy gently in the ribs as they walked.

"Ok everyone, lunch is served," Marissa declared; the Bensons, and guest, crammed around the kitchen table which groaned under the weight of the plates and appetiser, a hot spinach and artichoke dip with some lightly toasted wholegrain bread. Sam pulled a disgruntled face as she eyed Mrs Benson's concoction; her natural hunger duelling with her disgust over the food's appearance. Hunger was to triumph as she took a few bites of the first course, praying that the remainder of the meal would be more to her taste.

"So, Samantha," Jennifer asked as the house matriarch cleared the remnants of the appetiser along with the plates used; Freddie helped his mother with this duty, along with bringing fresh plates and cutlery for the entrée. His aunt's sugary tone – and the use of Sam's full name – made the girl clench and unclench a fist a few times under the table in an attempt to reduce her tension, "do you live in Los Angeles now too?"

"No," she explained, "I live in Vegas right now, but Freddie was kind enough to invite me to stay for the holiday because my mom and her boyfriend," she shrugged, "well they don't really want me around too much."

The rest of the table, other than Marissa who could readily appreciate the elder Puckett's sentiments, looked sympathetically at the girl; she gave a forlorn smile as she tried to play a little on their feelings, noting to herself that her ability to manipulate others was still as good as it always had been.

"Well it was very nice of Freddie to invite you," Millie told her approvingly, "and very kind of you, Marissa, to welcome her into your home like this."

The Head Nurse fixed a smile on her face before answering in a slow, measured voice, "It's an important day for _families_ to get together," she emphasised the word while eyeing her son, "and it's always good to open your house to those that need it." She had neglected to mention to her own family that Freddie had moved out; it was part of the leverage he had used to get her to acquiesce to his blonde friend joining them for the day.

"Thank you Mrs Benson," Sam said politely, with an equally fixed grin adorning her face.

Though the words _almost_ stuck in her throat, Marissa asked her son to carve the turkey, watching him closely lest he slip while holding the knife. She had a first aid kit in easy range in case of mishaps but the fifteen-year-old performed the task admirably and the family were soon enjoying the main course of their meal, Sam explaining, when asked, that she was just here until the following day before heading back; privately Marissa felt that it couldn't come soon enough.

Pumpkin pie followed the traditional turkey and was soon eaten; even Sam felt that she could eat no more (for a couple of hours anyway) and the group retired to the living area while Freddie helped his mother clean up. To Marissa's relief nobody had asked about the still noticeable patch of stubble on the back of her son's head. She hoped that nobody would look too closely at it.

_David West's residence_

Jade frowned as she, Beck, his parents and her mother entered her father's home; it was the first time she had been invited to his home for Thanksgiving since her parents' divorce and the two West females were both reluctant to attend. Thankfully the bimbo secretary that he had left his wife for was nowhere to be seen (in fact Jade was unsure as to whether they were together, such was the lack of involvement that her father had in her life these days).

"Jade," he said tersely as father and daughter eyed one another; her cousin Ashley had answered the door and let them in, something else to antagonise the gothic girl this day. The dirty-blonde was a couple of years younger than she was and seemed to idolise her, but not in a _good_ way – at least as far as the brunette was concerned. To Jade the younger girl was trying to mimic her hopes and aspirations (so much so that she was talking of auditioning for Hollywood Arts in the spring and hoping to join her older cousin there next autumn). This nugget of information had been a source of annoyance for Mr West as he saw the aspiration as stupid and wished his daughter would set her sights on the pursuit of, to him, a more worthwhile occupation. Her reasoning may have been dramatically different but father and daughter were, at least, united in their frustration about the younger teen's choices.

"Dad," she replied, equally bluntly. "This is Beck," she added conversationally, raising the conjoined hands of herself and her boyfriend; it was a mark of his non-presence in her life, she mused, that this was the first time the two had come across one another. "And his parents," she gestured to the Olivers, who were stood behind the couple.

"Hello," his tone remained brusque as he shook the Canadian's free hand followed by those of his parents. "And where do you know my daughter from?" he demanded.

"Oh, we go to school together, sir. I want to be an actor when I graduate," he explained, blissfully unaware that that was precisely the wrong thing to say, though he got a hint as the older man's face contorted instantly.

"Another one," he muttered under his breath before turning from the teenagers to give an awkward greeting to his ex-wife.

"Something I said?" the long-haired teen asked his girlfriend brightly as he limped slightly through the house by her side; he had only just come off his crutches the previous day and was still trying not to put too much weight on his injured leg for too long if he could avoid doing so. Jade was happy to help in this endeavour by staying on his injured side so that he could rely on her for a little support while walking. The boy was eager to return to his RV now that he was walking more or less unaided but his mother had insisted on him remaining in the house for the remainder of the holiday weekend just to make sure that he was sufficiently mobile to get around on his own.

"Yes," she smiled resentfully at her father's back, "he hates creative people and thinks my dreams are stupid. So to learn that you share them – let's just say you've got on his bad side already. Never mind," she shrugged, rising to her tip-toes and planting a quick peck on his lips.

The newcomers were directed to their seats at the table by Ashley's mother (Jade's aunt, her father's sister). To her increased annoyance Jade had Ashley on her other side with Beck sitting between his girlfriend and her mother; the aspiring actress plied her elder cousin with questions while they waited for her mother to finish serving. Jade was actually relieved when her father declared that it was time to say grace, as the younger girl was finally silenced for a few minutes.

The gothic girl wasn't too enthusiastic about the idea of the Sweet Potato Rounds that her aunt set on the table as an appetiser; eating them, however, gave her a ready-made excuse to ignore her yapping cousin so she tucked in eagerly, to the younger girl's chagrin. She attempted to lean across the brunette to engage Beck in conversation instead, something that only served to increase the older girl's ire.

Things continued in a similar vein during the remainder of the meal; the main course, the delicious and beautifully carved turkey, threatened to stick in her throat as the constant accompanying chatter grated at her. Beck eyed his girlfriend nervously as he could clearly see her patience evaporating rapidly. By the time their pumpkin pie had been devoured and the plates cleared away she looked ready to snap.

"Why don't we go and sit over there," Beck suggested helpfully as people began to leave the table; he steered his girlfriend to a corner of the house where they could sit together while her mother and his parents mingled with the other adults. Jade took a series of calming breaths to recover her composure as her boyfriend sat with his arm around her.

Sadly for Jade the tranquillity would all too soon be shattered; Ashley came to join them a few moments later.

"So Jade, you never answered me at the table; what would be the one, most important piece of advice you could give me?" she asked expectantly.

"Don't!" Beck warned quickly, albeit in a low voice so that only his girlfriend could hear him. Jade smiled; it unsettled the boy more than anything else had.

"Hey, why don't we go somewhere quieter where we can talk?" she suggested.

"Ok," her cousin readily agreed; Beck covered his eyes with his hand, elbow resting on the chair's armrest. _This is NOT going to end well_, the young actor thought as the gothic girl led her cousin away by the hand.

He was surprised when she returned, alone and smiling, just a couple of minutes later.

"What did you do?" he asked in resignation.

"I escaped from her," she shrugged with an innocent expression on her face; it was one that Beck refused to buy – not even for a second.

"Where is she?"

"I locked her in a closet in the basement," she smirked, keeping her voice low enough as to not advertise the fact to a wider audience.

Beck just shook his head, reflecting ruefully that he had been correct in his assessment.

_Valentine Residence_

Cat had arrived back at the house moments after her father had returned home, bringing his mother-in-law with him.

"Nona!" the girl squealed as she spied her grandmother.

"Hello my little Caterina," the older lady greeted her and the two embraced warmly. "Your father tells me that I'll have the pleasure of your company for a little while soon," she commented with a smile.

"It's true," the teenager replied, "while they're gone with my brother up in Idaho. Are you sure it's ok?"

"Of course dear, I'd love to have you stay for as long as you want."

The girl smiled before catching sight of a couple of other family members over her grandmother's shoulder. "Oh, it's Uncle Walter and Aunt Pearl," she noted morosely.

"Is there a problem with them?" The lady wondered what her daughter and her husband had done to upset her fragile granddaughter.

"They don't like my hair," she informed her sadly.

"Well I love it," Nona reassured her, seizing a couple of stray locks and shaking them gently, "it's a part of what makes you you," she smiled, a smile the teen readily returned.

Her father's parents were the next guests to arrive at the Valentine home and soon this gathering too was sat around the table enjoying their meal; Cat's brother drew numerous concerned looks from the assembled guests, though of course they all knew of his various 'issues', but the late-teen was thankfully caught on a good day and caused few issues for the family to have to deal with.

Over coffee after the meal her parents discussed arrangements a little further with Nona, much to the interest of the others.

"Are you sure that you're ok with this, mom?" Pearl asked, drawing numerous annoyed eyes to her, most notably those of Cat and Nona. "If you'd rather then we can look after her for you."

"No, I'd love to have little Caterina stay with me," she insisted, much to the red-head's relief. Her daughter continued to look suspiciously across at the pair, and Cat's parents, but said nothing further about it.

_David West's house_

Mr West stormed furiously through the house; he had become a little concerned at the contented smile on his daughter's face and linked it to the absence of his niece pestering her. Having been unable to find the younger girl anywhere among the groups of family sat talking he went in search of her, finally locating her when he heard a faint hammering sound coming from the basement and discovered her locked in a closet down there. His ire turned on his daughter to the point of actually calling the police about the incident, describing it as a kidnapping. He elected not to mention having done so to the others until he calmed down sufficiently; the cops had arrived before he reached that point, as illustrated by the sound of the doorbell.

"I'll get it," he commented in an emotionless voice. "Jade," he called to his daughter after admitting the two officers.

The girl came over, eyeing them with confusion; they 'invited' her to step outside while both Beck and her mother watched the scene with concern and confusion.

"What's going on?" Mrs West demanded of her ex-husband; his sister joined the small gathering, having heard from her daughter about Jade's actions.

"She locked my niece in a closet," he replied calmly, "so I reported it to the police."

"WHAT?" his sister and former wife barked in unison; Beck looked stunned and troubled; his parents hurried over at the commotion while Ashley leaned against her mother's side.

"You heard me," David shrugged.

"You set the cops on your _own_ daughter?" Ashley's mother challenged; Mrs West's ire had rendered her speechless, while the Olivers wondered just what family their son would join if his relationship with the brunette reached its logical ultimate conclusion.

"She locked _your_ daughter in a closet."

"I was bugging her, Uncle David," Ashley defended the High Schooler.

"Do you have any idea how _pathetic_ that is?" his ex-wife spat, shaking her head in disgust.

Beck ran a hand through his hair; _this is a wake-up call, or it _SHOULD_ be, but she'll ignore it,_ he thought._ Looks like I need to be more hands-on about keeping her in line and out of trouble in the future_.

"I agree, you've totally over-reacted, David," his sister complains.

"So you don't care that she did that to your own daughter?" he snarled.

"Of course I do, and I'm annoyed, but Ashley doesn't seem too bothered and you've made far too big a thing of it."

"Setting the police on your own child for something like this," Jade's mother shook her head. "Just how stupid and immature can you get?" she ranted.

The girl in question strode back into the house a few moments later, an impassive expression on her face.

"I think it's time we left," she informed her mother.

"Definitely", the elder West female agreed.

"Bye Auntie," then she eyed her smiling cousin, "sorry Ashley, it won't happen again," she forced herself to say.

"That's ok Jade," the younger girl smiled. "Could I call you sometime to talk about schools and acting and stuff?"

"I guess so," she muttered reluctantly. Beck and his parents followed the Wests' hasty retreat and the five were soon back at their respective cars.

"Well that was a fun way to end the holiday," the teenage girl commented dryly.

"Did the police say much?" her mother enquired nervously.

"They say that he accused me of _kidnapping_ her; they thought he over-reacted but had to investigate it, warned me not to do it again, that sort of thing," she shrugged. "I'll see you tomorrow, we're still going to the mall right?" she asked her boyfriend.

"Sure, I'll see you at our house in the morning." The boy caught the concerned glances of his parents and his heart sank a little; he had a feeling that they would want to discuss his choice of girlfriend later this evening. Again he found himself longing for the privacy and solitude that his RV afforded him.

The two groups went their separate ways, one wondering about the girl and her family, the other silently simmering over the actions of their host.

_Pear Store, __189 The Grove Drive, West Hollywood, Los Angeles_

_Friday, 27__th__ November 2009_.

Freddie had his earbuds in and sang quietly to himself as he turned the corner into The Grove Drive; he was approaching work and expecting a hectic shift today with it being Black Friday. The boy was prepared to be called upon to help the sales force rather than his preferred location of hiding behind the brilliance bar and getting on with things in his own way. He thought back on the last few hours that he had spent back under his mother's roof.

His relatives had departed during the early evening; as Millie lived in Los Angeles she was able to give houseroom to the rest of the family given that Sam was staying with Freddie and his mother – it had been part of the arrangement that they would all come to Marissa's for dinner but spend the night, and maybe a little longer, at Millie's instead before flying back from whence they came over the weekend sometime. Sam, meanwhile, had complained, grumbled and threatened when Freddie had gently woken her up as he prepared to leave; the blonde whined that it was far too early to be waking her up but he insisted that he wanted to say goodbye, reminded her that Cat would be calling around sometime soon to say her own goodbye and, crucially, he added with a grin, that she needed to get to the bus station or she'd be stuck with the Head Nurse all day. This last comment galvanised the girl into action; she was up, packed and just about ready to leave (or at least have a hearty breakfast) before he was out the door.

The two hugged in the doorway; he told her how good it had been to see her again (something she reiterated) and wished her a safe journey back to Vegas. He was a little disappointed that he didn't see Cat before he left, but he knew that the red-head intended to be over and thought that he might call her later once his shift finished.

_Beck Oliver's RV_

Freddie trudged wearily up the driveway after a long and exhausting shift; he would not be able to work the next day as he had completed his legal maximum number of hours during the day. He glanced to the main house as he unlocked the trailer, smiling as he saw a twitch of the curtain of the room where he knew Beck was currently staying. The boy waved to the silhouette of his friend as he entered, noting as he did that the light had gone out in that room; he assumed that Beck was going to pay him a visit, probably to discuss what happened next now that he had divested himself of his crutches.

He was correct about being paid a visit; the Canadian-born teen knocked on the door a couple of minutes later and Freddie opened it to allow his friend to limp inside.

"Hey man, how are you getting along without the crutches?" he asked as he took a couple of peppy colas from the fridge and handed one to his landlord before sinking into a chair.

"Oh, you know, getting there," he shrugged in a relaxed manner. "How was your Thanksgiving?"

"Good thanks; Sam came over and we got a chance to hang and chat after the relatives left. Mom was less crazy than normal and I think she wants to talk to me about moving back there. It's not going to be _that _easy for her to get me to say yes but if she makes a few… promises then we'll see. I be you're eager to get back in here?"

"Definitely," Beck laughed. "Mom and dad have been great and have looked after me while I've been hurt but I do miss the freedom of this place."

"Your roof, your rules," the former tech producer echoed before nodding; he would miss it too. "How was _your_ Thanksgiving?" he asked in return.

"We had ours last month," Beck reminded him with a grin, which faded as he continued, "but we went to Jade's father's house and…" he shook his head at the memories of the previous day. The short-haired teen pressed him for details so he explained everything that had happened, to Freddie's mounting incredulity.

"He set the cops on his own daughter? For shutting her cousin in a closet? What's wrong with the guy?"

"Your guess is as good as mine; he didn't like me very much – I don't think he respects anyone who wants to be a performer. He thinks Jade should go for something realistic and achievable instead."

"Has he seen how much talent she's got?" Freddie asked in ever-burgeoning amazement.

"I know," the gothic girl's boyfriend agreed, "she can sing, she can act, she's got the looks. If anyone's going to make it, it's going to be Jade." He paused to take a draught of his cola.

"Well at least I'm not the only one with a crazy parent," Freddie grinned, sipping his own drink. "It's not going to make things any easier for her though regarding having a relationship with the guy – that's if she still even wants one after this."

"I think she does from what she's said," the longer-haired actor commented, "but you're right that he isn't making it easy by behaving like that, though Jade didn't exactly do the right thing with what she did to Ashley," he conceded.

"Why did she do that in the first place?"

"Her cousin was bugging her with questions; she passed the end of her tether and snapped I guess. She needs to control that or she'll find herself in some serious trouble one of these days," Beck added in a concerned tone. Freddie felt the other teen was exaggerating a little but didn't press the matter at this point.

"So you got any plans for the rest of the evening?"

"Not really," the Pear Store employee admitted, "I'm tired after being at work all day; it was absolutely insane with all the bargain hunters and we were just swamped all day. I want to give Cat a call and see how she got on with her family yesterday," he didn't elaborate, not knowing exactly what anybody else knew about the situation with her brother, "and Sam called me over lunch just to say she was back in Vegas."

"Ok, I'll leave you to it then," Beck stood up, drained his can and headed for the door, "I'll catch you later."

"Sure," Freddie waved as he limped down the stairs, closing the door behind him. The boy closed his eyes and sighed deeply, forcing himself to resist the siren song of his bed for a few more minutes. He opened his eyes again, pulled out his phone and punched in the speed-dial number, leaning back against the wall with his eyes once again closed as the phone rang and smiling through his fatigue as the girl's high-pitched voice answered.

* * *

**AN: Thanks for reading; please don't be shy about dropping a review letting me know what you liked or didn't like (or outright hated!) about the chapter and please come back next week for Chapter 9. PD.**


	9. Chapter 9

**AN: Hello everyone; I hope you've had a good week and are looking forward to Easter. I certainly am. Welcome to the latest chapter of this story, which will cover Christmas for the gang. As always at this time I thank everyone for reading and reviewing last time.**

**Challenge King – yes Freddie needs to get some sort of help; he's not too willing right now, maybe that will change or maybe there is somebody out there that he will ultimately feel able to talk to. As for Beck keeping Jade in line, how the others react will be interesting; maybe they'll agree given the problems of the last chapter or maybe they'll think he goes overboard. Who knows?**

**Fanfic-Reader-88 – yes it was a strange decision from Mr West but, according to Jade's Slap post that's what he did. As for Marissa, she has to behave herself because Freddie's shown he's willing to leave – and crucially there's somewhere he could go if she reverted to her crazy self.**

**Agent-M – yes families will always have their dramas, particularly over a holiday time.**

**Guest – thank you, let's hope we see the pairing again soon.**

**Pbow – Cat's child-like behaviour, and her regression on the show, are a curiosity; there are certain writers who have theories that your supposition is correct (that it's linked to her brother's condition) and certainly something Lane could explore the next time they meet.**

* * *

Chapter 10

_Valentine Residence, Hollywood Hills, California_

_Wednesday, 23__rd__ December 2009_.

Cat sat cross-legged on her bed hugging her plush giraffe, the one that Freddie had bought for her at the zoo during the summer before they had started at Hollywood Arts, tightly against her chest; with her parents preparing to take her brother to Idaho and the fact that they would be out of her life for the foreseeable future the little red-head felt that she needed something familiar to hold onto right about now. She loved her grandmother (or 'Nona' as she called her) but it was still a fairly dramatic upheaval that she, and the whole family, would be going through over the next few days. They had yet to leave but already the childlike teenage girl was longing for her parents' return.

"Hey honey, are you ok?" her dad asked after rapping softly on her bedroom door and looking around it; much as the elder Valentine may often wish that his daughter talked a little (or even a _lot_) less, it was disconcerting for him to see her so quiet and withdrawn, quite the opposite of her usual self.

"I guess," she said a little morosely, "it's just going to be weird not having you guys around and living with Nona; it's a little bit longer of a trip to and from school. I dunno, I guess I just don't want things to change," she finished with a small shrug.

"I know sweetie," he said, entering her room, sitting next to her on the bed and slipping an arm around his daughter, "but we _need_ to do this for your brother. We're going to miss you too but hopefully we'll be back in about a month. It'll fly by, you'll see."

She nodded, more in an attempt to make him feel better than herself, something that wasn't lost on the older Valentine.

"Look," he said, drawing his wallet from his pocket and pulling out a few bills, "why don't you go out and do something fun; maybe take Jade along with you and have a girls' afternoon out? That'll cheer you up."

"Thanks daddy," she smiled at him and accepted the money that he proffered. He left the room and she wriggled her phone from the pocket of her skinny jeans, placing a call to her best friend.

"Hey Jade, want to go somewhere this afternoon?"

_Green Meadow Mall, __6801 Hollywood Blvd, Los Angeles_

The two teenage girls met outside Cat's favourite smoothie place; she offered to buy Jade one but the gothic girl opted instead to hit the Jet Brew stand across the court and get herself a coffee. They sat at a table with their drinks, each lost in their thoughts before Jade spoke up.

"So what's bothering you Cat?" she began without preamble.

"You know I told you my parents were taking my brother to this 'special' hospital in Idaho?" The other girl nodded her confirmation of knowledge of the recent development. "Well it's just that they're going in a few days and I'm really going to miss them while they're away."

"You'll be staying with your grandmother though, won't you?"

"Yes, and I love my Nona, I do; it's just… not the same," she finished balefully.

"Well we'll all be around still," the dark-brunette attempted to console and encourage her, "you'll still see everyone at school, probably be able to hang with us on a weekend and maybe a little on a night before you have to go back there. They'll be back before you know it," she smiled.

Cat looked far from convinced, choosing to take another sip of her treat instead of answering her friend; Jade tried again.

"So what do you want to do this afternoon if it's your daddy's treat?" she asked with a slightly forced smile.

Cat thought for a moment before brightening. "I want a make-over!" she cried happily. "Let's go to the salon and get pampered; come on," and she seized her best friend's hand and dragged her, extremely reluctantly, to the beauty parlour.

_Why did I let her talk me into this?_ Jade asked herself while Cat sat giggling gently as one of the girls curled her hair a little; the red-head decided that she wanted to try a new look for Christmas and wanted to see how she would look with a different hair-style. The mean girl eventually acquiesced to her friend's insistence that she try _something _while they were there; she settled for a head massage (which she had to admit, once it was underway, was extremely nice and relaxing) and a manicure, though she insisted on them leaving her black nail polish intact while they did it.

"See, that wasn't so bad was it?" the child-like teen asked playfully as they left a couple of hours later.

"It was ok," the brunette reluctantly admitted then, seeing her friend's expectant face, amended, "it was a really nice way to spend the afternoon," and furnished the shorter girl with a smile. "Thanks Cat, I _did_ enjoy it," she conceded, bringing a giggle from the now curly-haired teenager.

They spent a little more time walking around the stores and talking before going their separate ways.

"Hey sweetie," Mrs Valentine called as she arrived home. "Wow, I love the new look," she complimented as she admired what her daughter had had done to her hair.

"Really?" the girl smiled.

"Absolutely, it really suits you," her dad echoed his support.

"Ooh, curly Cat," her brother piped up before lapsing back into silence and studying the back of his hand.

"Well I'm glad you all like it," she told them as she sat down and joined them in the living area. "Thanks daddy," she whispered and grinned at him; he smiled back at her and patted her hand gently.

_Benson Residence_

_Thursday, 24__th__ December 2009_.

"Good morning Freddie," Marissa greeted her son civilly as he arrived in the kitchen.

"Hey mom, how are you today?" he returned in a relaxed tone.

In truth the Benson matriarch was very happy; she had her son back "where he belonged", even if the cost had been a few of his demands about the way she behaved around him and what he could eat. He still had not forgotten about the chip, and it had been an underlying source of tension between them since his return home a couple of weeks earlier (he had decided, once Beck was off his crutches and ready to reclaim the RV, that his mother had suffered enough and he managed to negotiate some acceptable terms for his return, including access to various television channels, a promise not to embarrass him in public and, crucially, an apology for implanting the chip; she had been reluctant to give him the apology, as it implied wrong-doing, but he was adamant and ultimately she had caved).

Beck had visited him on the Saturday evening following Thanksgiving to let him know that he'd be moving back in the next day; he suggested that his friend come inside to speak to his parents about staying there going forwards. He did so but informed them that he would also be contacting Marissa and seeing whether the two of them could clear the air at all; he didn't voice the feeling that, now that he wouldn't have the RV and the total freedom and privacy that it afforded him, maybe it was time to move home and see what concessions he could extract from his mother. The Oliver parents understood but reiterated that he would be welcome there for as long as he wanted to stay, and for a peppercorn rent; he told them that he was grateful for the invite – and the alternative – but that he needed to speak to his mother and see if he could resolve things with her.

"I'm fine thank you. Are you looking forward to Christmas?" she asked stiffly; they were still talking a little formally and things were not back to the way they had been in the past – Freddie suspected, and in a way hoped, that they never _would_ be that way again now that a line had been drawn in the sand; tick baths were certainly a thing of the past for him.

"Definitely," he smiled. "I get my little present for me later on today as well," he added nonchalantly, having reserved this final bombshell for her.

"And what would that be?" she asked, curiosity mingling with concern about what his 'present' could possibly involve.

"I'm getting a car," he said calmly, enjoying the look of shock and horror form on her face at the thought. "Mom," he attempted to placate her a little, "I got my permit months ago and I've been taking lessons since I started working. I can afford it so I'm getting a car; it gives me some more independence and it's some freedom for you as well because you don't need to take me places – I can get around on my own."

"I don't like it, Freddie; it can be so dangerous on the roads…" she began before her son cut her off.

"Mom, if you _really_ believed that then _you_ wouldn't drive and you definitely wouldn't drive _me_ anywhere. I'm getting a car this afternoon," he stated with finality and reached for the cereal box. It was unnecessary for him to add the threat _and if you don't like it then I can always move out again_. "I think I'll have some bacon after this," he added conversationally as he poured milk (they still only had 1% as that was all that Marissa would buy) over his bowlful.

"Whatever you think," she force-smiled through strongly gritted teeth.

"Do you have to work today?" he asked curiously, deciding that it was best to change the subject for now.

The Benson matriarch confirmed that she did, although only until around 3. "I'll be back in plenty of time for us to go to your aunt Millie's for supper before we go to church," she hoped that he would still be going with her to these events given his new demand for more independence and a 'longer leash' from her.

"Sounds good," he nodded before adding, slightly cruelly and with a broad smile and innocent voice, "shall I drive us tonight?"

Marissa floundered a little for an answer, finally settling for, "That would be nice, Freddie."

She left for work, her son beginning to regret what he had offered, not because of any feeling that he had behaved cruelly towards her but because he wasn't sure about the idea of having her sat next to him commenting on his driving all evening. _What's done is done_, he shrugged.

After finishing a leisurely breakfast and with no plans for the earlier part of the day he called Eli.

"Hey dude, how's it going?"

"Pretty good," his sandy-blond friend replied, "how about you?"

"Great. I pick up my car in a few hours."

"Awesome! What did your mom say?"

"As little as possible," he laughed. "So anyway, are you busy today?"

"We head up to San Francisco around five," he informed him, "but once I've finished packing I'll be free for the afternoon."

"Want to hit the mall for a couple of hours then before I go and get my wheels?"

"Sure, see you there around eleven thirty?"

_Green Meadow Mall, __6801 Hollywood Blvd, Los Angeles_

The two boys met at the mall's Food Court, opting for a slightly early lunch to begin their hang-out time.

"So how did your mom take the news about your car," Freddie's friend asked curiously, drawing a smirk from the Seattle-born.

"She wasn't too happy," he disclosed, "but she knows that she really doesn't get a choice in the matter anymore so she has to live with it."

"Things really have changed with her then," the sandy-blond remarked in surprise.

"Definitely; moving out for those few weeks was the best thing I could ever have done. It's forced her to be a lot more reasonable around me, that's for sure."

"I still thought she might have said something more about a car though," he noted.

"She expressed her displeasure and concerns but she knows if she pushes it too far I can always leave again and she does not want that to happen," Freddie shrugged. "So she has to accept a lot more from me. Obviously there _are_ still lines that I can't cross – nor would I want to," his brain automatically harked back to the night of the Prom, and the morning after, causing him to shudder at the memories, "but we have a much more 'normal' relationship now, though it's taking her a while to get to used to it."

"Sounds good then, particularly that you were able to patch everything up," Eli commented approvingly; despite what he knew of Marissa both first hand and from Freddie's anecdotes he had been raised with the utmost respect for his parents and automatically felt, therefore, that kids should be with them if at all possible – it was something that he had debated with Beck in the past over his living in the RV on his own. The two had had to agree to differ on that point. "And has she mentioned the…" he tailed off and patted the back of his head awkwardly.

"Only when I wanted an apology for it as a condition of moving back; I think she hopes to sweep the whole thing under the carpet and forget about it. Easier said than done if that's the case."

Eli nodded and returned to his meal; Freddie did likewise and the two ate in silence.

"Ok, where next?" Eli asked when they were done.

"Oh that's an easy one," the Seattle-born replied, just a hint of surprise in his voice, "we go and see André," he gestured in the songsmith's direction as he spied their mutual friend; it was a chance meeting as he hadn't expected the dreadlocked boy to be there.

"Hey André!" he called from across the mall; the boy turned in their direction and smiled as he saw his two friends.

"Freddie, Eli, good to see you guys. What are you doing here?"

"Just hanging," Freddie answered with a shrug, "killing a bit of time before I get my new car later on. How about you? I wasn't expecting to see you here."

The talented musician nodded; he felt a little envious of his friend.

"Oh I needed to pick up a couple of things for tonight and…" he dropped his voice and glanced around shiftily, "I'm hiding out away from my grandma; she's driving me nuts."

"Is she that bad?" Eli asked curiously, leading to André embarking on a lengthy description of the woman's troubles and issues; Freddie nodded sympathetically at his friend's lament.

"Do you want to tag along?" the ex-iCarly tech producer offered, "we're just going to walk round a few stores until I have to go for my car and Eli heads for San Fran."

"Sure thing," André accepted the invitation and the three boys roamed the mall for a few pleasant hours before going their separate ways.

_Used Car Dealership, __1201 N Fairfax Ave, West Hollywood_

Freddie entered the showroom and office area, looking around for the person he had been dealing with since agreeing to buy a car here. He smiled at the sight of the employee; the man waved to him and hurried over to greet him.

"Hello Freddie," he began, shaking the teen's hand. "Are you all set to pick up the car?"

"Yes sir," the boy replied, patting the leather folder he carried under his left arm, "I have everything right here; insurance number, bank draft, my permit's in my wallet," he withdrew the item from his pocket and followed the worker to his office, emerging from the building a few minutes later with the keys to his first vehicle, a small Toyota._ It's not much,_ the boy thought as he pulled out of the dealership and headed for home, _but it will do for what I want right now_. Contrary to what he suspected were his mother's fears he negotiated the short journey back via the sparsely occupied roads without any life threatening incidents, pulling into his house's driveway and parking up. He grinned broadly as he locked the car after getting out, a little giddy at the prospect of the extra freedom having his own wheels would afford him. He glanced at his watch, noting that it was a little after 3. _Mom will be back soon,_ he thought.

Right on cue he saw his mother's car dawdling up the street; the boy decided to remain outside by his own vehicle so that he could greet her on her return. He waved casually as she turned into the driveway, pulling into her usual spot and working hard to keep the frown from her face at her smiling son stood leaning against his 'death trap' as she viewed it.

"Hello Freddie," she greeted him tersely as she exited her car. "So this is it then?"

"Yep, my very first car," he confirmed with a grin. "She runs pretty well, though of course it was only a short drive back here." The former iCarly tech producer stood patiently while Marissa walked around the car staring intently at it as if to bore out a problem with it using her eyes. He rolled his own a little and called from behind her, "Mom, if you're concerned then we can take it this evening when we go to Aunt Millie's, hopefully that will convince you that everything is fine with it."

His mother looked far from convinced but nodded reluctantly at her son's determined expression.

_Valentine Residence_.

Cat had withdrawn to her bedroom as her parents discussed their plans for the next month or so and began the arduous task of preparing their son for the upheaval ahead of him. They were busily packing his things, along with plenty for themselves given that they expected to be away for around a month; it was another reason not to take their daughter along – there simply wouldn't be enough room for everyone in the car given that they were driving so as not to have to have a rental car for the whole time that they were up in Idaho. The youngest Valentine, meanwhile, was busy with her own packing; although it wasn't _essential_ that she had everything (given that she could easily collect a few things after school if she found that she had forgotten something important) she wanted to be packed and ready to go in plenty of time so that the final day or so before her family left would be a little less stressful. It took her a little over an hour to fill a suitcase with the majority of her clothes and a couple of other bags with the things she thought she would need in order to live her normal life in her family's absence.

"Hey cup cake," her mother's voice called from the doorway as she placed the bags in a pile near the foot of her bed, "you've packed to go already?"

Her daughter shrugged and swept a few wisps of red hair from her face. "I thought I might as well; this way if I've forgotten something I still have time to put it in before I go."

"Good thinking," Mrs Valentine said encouragingly. "Cat," her tone changed and the cup cake-loving girl turned to meet her gaze, "are you going to be ok when we've gone."

"I'll be fine," she insisted, "I love my Nona and I'll be fine living with her until you get back." The teenager surprised herself with her vehement insistence, given how concerned she had been about the whole thing when she first learned of her parents' intentions. Both mother and daughter wondered exactly who she was trying to convince more with her statement, though neither pressed the issue other.

"Ok then," Mrs Valentine commented instead, turning and heading to her son's room to carry on getting his things together.

_Beck's RV, Oliver Residence_.

Beck lay on his bed, resting his knee; it was just about back to normal but he was still taking things easy until the New Year, when he was looking to begin his fencing again. He wasn't alone, Jade lay next to him partaking in an increasingly heated make-out session. He ran his fingers gently along her hand, enjoying the soft feel of her skin and the smoothness of her nails and silently praising the manicurist who had worked on her the previous day. He left her hand and sought out her waist, wrapping his right arm around it and rolling onto his back pulling his girlfriend on top of him as he went.

Jade was enjoying the contact and private intimacy but began to feel just a little uncomfortable at where exactly this was leading (especially in mind of how badly Freddie had been affected by having sex before he was ready for it) and shifted her hands to pin her boyfriend's arms, gently but firmly, lest he think about taking things further. Any awkward conversations, however, were headed off by a knock on the trailer's door and the sound of Mrs Oliver's voice calling through it.

"Beck? Are you ok in there? Don't forget we're having tea soon before we head up to see the family."

The boy groaned as he recalled the plan; Jade silently thanked anybody who was listening.

"I guess that's my cue to leave," she commented as she eased herself off his bed; a glance in a mirror led to her trying to straighten her hair and clothing a little before coming face to face with her boyfriend's mother. She turned to Beck and smiled at him. "I'll see you when you get back?" He nodded and confirmed as much as she retrieved a package from her bag, which she had left by the door. "Something for you to open in the morning," she whispered, giving him a quick kiss; they were going to exchange presents 'properly' on his return but she had picked up an extra little something for him this year.

"Thank you," he smiled. "I uh… I have your gift here," he tapped the wardrobe, "but I thought we weren't doing this until later."

"We are, this is a bonus," she half-joked. "Merry Christmas Beck."

"Merry Christmas Jade," he smiled; she returned it and left his home, greeting his mother cordially as she passed her; once she had walked out of the drive and out of the line of sight of anyone who might be watching her she let out a deep sigh and ran her hand nervously through her hair.

_Millie Benson's home, Los Feliz_

Freddie's fears over how his mother would react to his driving proved well founded; the Benson matriarch seemed fearful throughout as they traversed the roads, cautioning him over potential hazards both real and, far more often, imagined. The brown-haired teen had kept his cool – just about – during the drive over; he had been approaching breaking point though by the time he pulled the little Toyota up outside his aunt's house.

"You go ahead, I'll get the gifts from the trunk," he told his mother in a generous tone; in reality he just wanted his mother to receive the full Amanda effect and only have to suffer the aftershock himself.

The plan worked to perfection for the fifteen-year-old; he came bearing gifts and managed to avoid his 'icky' cousin by carrying the bags over to the spruce tree in his aunt's living room and spending a few minutes unloading them all and sorting them into individual piles before returning to the entrance hall to remove his outdoor coat and shoes. Only then did he have to deal with his family, doing the rounds quickly before grabbing a handful of peanuts and taking a seat next to his mother – and ignoring her disapproval for his pre-dinner snack.

Millie had prepared a wonderful roast beef dinner; Freddie was thankful that she didn't share her sister's paranoia when it came to meals and cooking. The boy dug in eagerly and gratefully, thoroughly enjoying the food she had prepared and smiling to himself as his mother picked a little at her own meal, clearly having a very different opinion of the fare that had been served up.

Once everyone had eaten their fill (Freddie made sure to thank his aunt graciously for the meal, earning him an approving smile from the woman of the house) they retired to the living room for an enjoyable and sociable evening. Amanda tried to engage her slightly older cousin in conversation as much as she could; he answered politely enough but he himself tried to engage other family members in conversation as often as he could and feeling slightly relieved by her lament that the boy and his mother would not be joining them again the following day; the two had opted to have a quiet Christmas together as they continued to figure out a new equilibrium in their relationship.

Around eleven o'clock the family began to prepare to head to church together. Freddie loaded up his and his mother's gifts from family and put them in the back of his car, accepting the admiring praise of his aunts (and cousin) as they looked at his new purchase; it was something else for his mother to look decidedly unhappy about.

"Ok, we'll follow you," he told his host. Millie nodded, got in her own car and led the small convoy to her usual church.

'_Nona's' house, 6829 Camrose Drive, Los Angeles_

_Friday, 25__th__ December 2009_.

Cat, her parents and her brother arrived at her grandmother's house where they would be celebrating Christmas this year. The red-haired girl had elected to take the majority of her things with her, having woken up this morning and decided that she may as well stay behind when the rest of the family went home and get the move over and done with a day or two earlier than she needed to; the elder woman was happy to oblige her granddaughter for a couple of extra days and the whole family knew that it would make things a little easier for the rest of them in trying to prepare for the trip to Idaho.

"Thanks for doing this, mom," Mrs Valentine said, snatching a private moment in the kitchen with her while they prepared the family meal. "It really gives us peace of mind knowing that you'll be taking care of her while we're away."

"It's not a problem; I love little Caterina and I'm more than happy to have her stay here while you're away. I just hope it works out for Frankie at the hospital," her voice dropped and lost some of its happiness at the thought of the troubled late-teen boy while her daughter sadly nodded her agreement of the sentiments before pulling her into a quick hug before turning her attention back to the family's Christmas lunch. The two worked in harmony, talking when necessary but mostly content to conclude the preparations and cooking in silence.

"Ok, everybody," Nona called as she walked through to the dining area with a tray full of goodies, "time to sit down and dig in." Her daughter followed behind with a similarly laden tray and began to doll out food onto her own children's plates.

The first course was an enjoyable time for the family; Cat's brother was suitably focussed on his meal as to not cause any problems or disturbances, though his sister watched him cautiously throughout and smiling, albeit nervously, as he continued to eat. She distractedly ate her own appetiser at the same time, oblivious to the concerned glances that the adults were exchanging.

Things degenerated during the main course as the boy's patience and attention thresholds were reached and passed; he caused an all-too-common scene at the table before being led away by his mother to settle down. Nona saw the look in her granddaughter's eyes and reached across the table to squeeze her hand gently, causing the red-haired girl to look up at her and give a weak smile.

He was suitably settled by the end of the meal to participate a little in the opening of the last few presents in the household; Nona had wanted to exchange her gifts during the day rather than having them opened in the morning without her. Cat was happy about this as it allowed her to open a couple more presents this afternoon. What she had kept to herself was the one little box she still had to unwrap that sat in the cases she had deposited in her new bedroom; the cupcake obsessed girl grinned at the memory of receiving it a few days ago and preoccupied herself with wondering what it could contain.

After a couple of hours in which coffees were consumed, the family talked about trivial things and, at Cat's insistence, played a couple of party games the Valentine parents were ready to go, though it felt strange for them to be leaving without their youngest child.

"You take care now," Mrs Valentine whispered as she pulled the girl into a hug, "we'll see you before we leave and we'll be back before you know it." She kissed the girl tenderly, as did her husband before the three departed with Cat looking sadly after them as they drove away; she waved one last time as the car rounded a corner out of sight before turning and going back inside her new home and into her grandmother's comforting arms.

"Why don't you start making that room your own?" Nona suggested.

"'kay 'kay," the girl nodded with a small smile and headed for her new bedroom to begin unpacking. She soon came across the little package in one of her cases and smiled as she read the gift tag; _Cat, Merry Christmas from Freddie x_.

She took a short break from unpacking and her smile widened as she unwrapped her last present.

_Green Meadow Mall, __6801 Hollywood Blvd, Los Angeles_

_Monday, 28__th__ December 2009_.

"So your parents have gone then?" Jade asked sympathetically; she had had to wait a little while for Cat's arrival at her home, as her friend had a longer journey there from her new residence, before the pair had headed to their favourite 'hang' spot, the mall.

"Yes, and my brother," she amended softly. "I just hope it all works out and they're home soon."

"They will be," Jade reassured her, though she resisted the urge to give her hand a brief squeeze.

"So what are we doing today?" the shorter girl enquired; all she knew was that Jade had invited her to come to the mall with her. She was happy to do so but was unsure of the other girl's reasoning.

"I'm getting a present from my dad; I know he'll hate it as much as last year's, if not more," Jade grinned wickedly.

"What are you going to get?" Cat asked as the brunette made her way towards the tattoos and piercings parlour.

"I'm getting my nose and eyebrow pierced," she replied casually.

"But your mom said that you couldn't, just as we were leaving," the red-head reminded her unnecessarily.

"Yeah well she's not here now," Jade observed in an unconcerned tone.

"Don't you think she'll freak? She did when you got the tattoo."

"Hey, why don't you go get a smoothie?" her friend suggested, losing patience with talking to the girl and handing her a five dollar bill.

"'Kay 'kay," the child-like teenager smiled happily, all other thoughts banished from her mind as she headed for her favourite store, jingling her keys distractedly in her pocket as she went and smiling as her fingers brushed the engraved unicorn key ring that had been Freddie's little gift for her. Jade shook her head at her retreating friend before turning and making her way into the parlour.

It was around an hour later that she was done and her new pieces of facial jewellery were safely ensconced in the freshly pierced holes. Jade went in search of her friend, finding her still sat with a smoothie; from the look of the table it appeared to be the red velvet-haired girl's third.

"Hey," the brunette called, causing her friend to turn around.

"Oh… hey," the shorter teen pulled a slight face at her friend's visage.

"You don't like them?" the gothic girl sounded a little affronted.

"Uh, they're just going to take some getting used to," Cat replied delicately. "Why did you get them anyway?"

"Mom said I couldn't and they'll upset my dad," she shrugged.

"But why…"

"C'mon, let's go and see what sales some of your favourite stores have," Jade encouraged, seizing the other girl's wrist and dragging her off; the brunette felt disappointed with her reaction as she was hoping for a little more support and admiration for her expression of individuality. While she was grateful for her honesty she would have appreciated a little white lie and a little support from her.

_West Residence_

Jade returned home with a slight feeling of trepidation; the more she thought about it the more she felt nervous about the way she had openly defied her mother's orders about not getting the piercings. Her luck was out as Mrs West was sitting in the living area watching TV as her daughter came through the door.

"Hello Jade, how was your afternoon with… Cat?" she tailed off as the light caught the metallic additions with a give-away glint. "What have you done?" she demanded in a cold voice.

"I got my nose and eye-brow pierced," the younger West fired back with bravado.

"When I specifically told you that you couldn't?"

"Yeah," she shrugged.

"You're grounded for two months and no allowance for three." Jade's jaw dropped at the severity of the sentence; her mother shrugged. "Two weeks and no allowance for a month didn't get the message through to you, maybe this will," she finished coldly.

"_Two months?_" her daughter echoed. "I can't see my friends away from school for two months?"

"No, no friends, no _Beck_, no nothing outside of school for two months. Maybe then you'll learn to listen to me. Oh, and I'll have your phone too for the duration," she added as an afterthought to the teenager's horror. Jade saw the steely look in her mother's eyes and knew that it wasn't up for debate; she reached into her pocket and handed the device over.

"I'm going to my room," the gothic girl grumbled, "I'll be down for dinner."

"Ok," her mother waved her off nonchalantly, though she reflected as she did on just how tiring parenting a rebellious teenager was becoming.

* * *

**AN: Thanks for reading; I hope you enjoyed it and please don't be shy about reviewing and letting me know what you thought.**

**For any of you who read my 'Freddie Goes To Hollywood' story and aren't aware, the sequel has begun. It's called "Here's To Us" and can be found in the Victorious section, or by visiting my profile page. PD.**


	10. Chapter 10

**AN: Hello everyone and welcome to the latest chapter of this story; I hope that you have all had a pleasant week. Thanks, as always, to everyone who read and reviewed Chapter 9.**

**Challenge King – yes, Freddie has his car and a little more independence. Jade, meanwhile, is learning from the best mistakes; somebody else's, and figuring out whether or not she's ready for that step.**

**Fanfic-reader-88 – life is a constant state of upheaval for our group, isn't it? Hopefully all will settle down for them soon.**

"**Guest" – you're right that Cat won't wait forever and Freddie needs to figure stuff out one way or the other. He **_**will**_** work through it all in time, and with help from his friends, then hopefully all will be well for him to pursue a certain little red-head again.**

**Agent-M – I'm glad that you like this Freddie and, of course, rebellious Jade. Cat may well learn a little something from this part of her life too; we can but hope.**

**Pbow – some good points about Beck and Jade. As for Freddie buying an RV – hmm, he'd likely need to save for a while before he could do that; I think it would be cheaper for him to just move in with Beck's parents if it came to it again. As for Cat, she likes her gift; hopefully the two can talk when life calms down for long enough.**

**Alright, that's everyone so on with the show.**

* * *

Chapter 10

_6829 Camrose Drive, Los Angeles_

_Monday, January 11__th__ 2010_.

Cat smiled as she dressed for school; finally the girl was just about getting used to her new surroundings and she felt as though she had fully settled into life and her new routine at her grandmother's house. Last night she had spoken, as usual, to her parents and received the latest update on the situation in Idaho; her brother was settling well into the residential hospital that they had taken him to and the Valentine parents were hopeful of actually being able to return to California ahead of schedule. Their daughter had assured them that, though she was delighted to hear the news, there was no need for them to hurry back on her account, she was happy where she was and loving life again. Her mother and father had been pleases to hear it and it had set their minds at rest somewhat, given how her state of mind had been before they left.

In truth, though, the girl still had plenty of moments when she was a little troubled; she had visited Lane, the Guidance Counsellor at her school, on a weekly basis since their first session just before Thanksgiving. She felt that talking to him was helping her and that she was coming, gradually, to terms with all of the recent events and upheaval in her life.

"Caterina?" her grandmother knocked gently on her door. "Are you up? It's almost time to go to school."

"Yes Nona, I'm up; I'll be out in a minute," she called back, skipping around the room as she found the rest of her outfit for the day; in addition to her favourite skinny jeans she wore a pink top and her shin-high boots in anticipation of a slightly chilly January day. The girl picked up her book bag and deposited the books and files she had used last night for her homework back into it before leaving her room and joining her grandmother in her small kitchen.

"Hi Nona," she swooped in to give her a quick kiss on the cheek as the older lady prepared coffee and a spot of breakfast for them.

"Hello pet," she greeted her granddaughter in return. "Are you having to catch the bus this morning?"

"Yes. Freddie offered me a ride but he's not really _supposed_ to drive people around unsupervised just yet so it's probably better if I get the bus for now. At least until mom and dad come back; they've promised to get me a car when they do," she giggled giddily. Nona had to suppress the urge to smile; she had already heard this from her daughter but was pleased for her granddaughter and always happy to see the girl so excited, however something else that she had said was concerning the elder family member.

"I should think he wouldn't drive you," the elder lady commented, adopting a slightly horrified tone, "a fifteen-year-old boy driving you around unsupervised?"

"Freddie's careful; he'd make sure I was ok," the girl argued.

"You like this Freddie then?" her grandmother smiled, happily changing the subject to a friendlier one seeing as him as a driving companion was clearly something that they would not agree on.

"Maybe," she grinned back shyly, "I'm just not sure that he likes _me_ anymore," she added as her smile dropped before answering the older lady's confused expression with a brief description of the two teens' history together.

"Sounds like you need to talk to him," Nona commented.

"I tried a couple of months ago, he wasn't ready to talk about it all," Cat supplied, adding a few details about the boy's reaction and the changes in his demeanour since the ending of his relationship with Lindsey a few months earlier.

"Well Caterina, you need to decide what to do but if he won't move past her then maybe you need to move on from him." Cat gave her a surprised look at the blunt comment but she was adamant. "There's lots of boys out there so there's no point in wasting your time just on one of them if there's no sign that he's interested."

"I guess," the red-head replied weakly. "He's seemed a little happier recently so maybe it's time to try talking to him again."

"There's a High School just down the road from here, you know," Nona added, "so there's plenty of boys in the area. I'm sure loads of them would be only too thrilled to date a girl like you."

"What's that supposed to mean?" the teen yelped, wondering what 'a girl like you' meant.

Nona sighed at her reaction. "I mean a beautiful, lovely and happy girl like you would be a catch for any of them, cupcake."

"Oh, 'kay 'kay," the placated girl answered with a grin before finishing her breakfast. "Ok, I've got to go for the bus, I'll see you tonight," she called, kissing her grandmother's cheek again before dashing off in the direction of the bus stop.

"I don't know where she gets her energy," Nona commented to her teacup, smiling once more at the thought of her ebullient granddaughter.

_Asphalt Café, Hollywood Arts High School_

"Hey Cat," Freddie waved and smiled broadly as he spotted the girl, or more accurately her hair reflecting the low winter sun as she arrived at school. She hurried over to join the group at their usual table.

"Hi Freddie," she smiled at the brown-eyed boy before contorting her face in confusion, "I thought you had your meeting this morning," she commented.

"No, it was cancelled," he shrugged, "so here I am. Oh, I did have _one_ task though," he remarked thoughtfully as he turned to face Robbie, "the guys in charge want to know if you're still interested in writing reviews of plays and productions as there hasn't been anybody to do this lately."

The curly-haired ventriloquist swallowed a little nervously. "Well uh, I'll think about it," he replied, recalling the problems that led to the official paper's cancellation in the first place.

Freddie nodded amiably. "Let me know what you decide and I'll pass it on to the crew," he smiled. Seeing Freddie smiling and happy had become a regular thing for the group since the turn of the year; it was as if all the baggage that had weighed him down over the previous term had suddenly been lifted and the teen was back to his old self, something that Cat and Jade had commented upon between themselves in private. Jade, still the only one of the group in whom he had confided the _full_ story, was especially pleased; if the boy had genuinely been able to put everything behind him then she hoped that he would make his move on Cat once the red-head's own life settled down a little more with the return of her parents in a few weeks' time.

It had been a curious Jade who had asked him the previous week about his improved mood; while she didn't want to jeopardise it she was rather intrigued, if pleasantly surprised, to see the return of the happy boy she had come to know during the bulk of their freshman year.

"_Did something happen over Christmas?" she had asked him. "Not that I'm complaining but it's like we finally have the old Freddie back with us."_

"_Nothing _happened_," he began to explain, "but I did some thinking, actually _a lot_ of thinking, over the break and when we got to New Year's – I'm sorry I missed your party but mom wanted us to spend it with family and we're trying to get on better…"_

"_It's ok," she held up her hand to halt him, "I understand. We missed you but we got it."_

"_Well," he continued, "it got to midnight and my aunt was all 'make your resolutions everyone' and I just decided that mine would be to let it go, to just accept what happened, that the past is the past and I can't change it. You were right; I couldn't go on letting it weigh me down forever so I figured – let it go so it has no power over my life anymore and I can move on at last."_

_The girl smiled her surprise and nodded her agreement. "Well it's good to hear – and great to see that you could put it into practice."_

"_It really is," he agreed, smiling broadly at her._

If anything it was the dark haired aspiring actress who seemed troubled lately; Jade was suffering badly as a result of her punishment from her mother – while Mrs West hadn't insisted on her actually _removing_ the piercings the grounding and loss of allowance she had dealt was hurting her daughter, though not as much as the haunting feeling she had carried over from just before Christmas – the worry over just how far Beck wanted things to go between them, and how soon.

The gothic girl's troubled manner was not lost on the happy boy; feeling that it was time to return s little of the favour for everything that she had done for him over the last few months. He cornered her at the beginning of lunch.

"Hey, are you alright?" he asked in a supportive tone.

"Why wouldn't I be?" she retorted testily, picking up her bag and turning her back on him.

"Because something's bothering you; come on Jade, of _all_ people _I_ know what it feels like to have something bothering me."

She turned to face him, a glower on her face; he stared back defiantly, meeting her glare with a challenging look of his own before shrugging.

"Well, I trusted you with my problems and you kept my trust. When you're ready I hope you know that you can do the same," and he turned to leave the classroom.

"Freddie," she called after him, taking a step of two towards him; he stopped and turned his head to look at her over his right shoulder. "Not here," she muttered, slipping her arm through his and leading him briskly to the janitor's closet; they ignored the curious looks and mutterings of the students that they passed en route.

She closed the door carefully behind them; Freddie took a seat on an upturned bucket and waited for the girl to speak.

"Just before Christmas," she began, "Beck and I were in his RV, alone."

He nodded, urging her to continue.

"Anyway, we were making out a little on his bed and suddenly I just…" she looked away and took a couple of breaths while the boy's mind raced and he began to panic slightly about what she was going to say, "I suddenly got to thinking – what if he wants to, y'know, _go further_?"

"Oh I definitely know," Freddie muttered a little darkly; his resolution to let it all go was receiving its first major test._ Let it go, let it go_, went through his head like a mantra as he tried to stay on top of his feelings and really control it. "So, what happened?"

"Nothing," she said. "_Nothing_," she insisted, seeing that he still wore a concerned expression on his face. "But it just panicked me. I know how bad it was for you and I just… I worried whether it would be the same for me."

Freddie stood and ran his hand through his hair as he paced the cramped room. He sighed and turned to his friend.

"I can't answer that Jade," he told her simply. "I wasn't ready for what happened to me. If _you_ are ready then when it does happen it won't be a problem, or it will be less of one anyway, so all I can suggest is what you've been saying to me all this time – talk about it. At least you know exactly who to talk to about it all," he finished with a smile.

"You're right," she smiled, brightening by the second. "I guess it's a lot easier to see that when you're looking in on someone else's life. Thanks, Freddie," and she reached for the door handle.

"Any time. Now, how are things with your mom?" he enquired as they left.

"Urgh, don't ask," she complained. However this time, albeit privately, Freddie's sympathies were a little more limited, feeling that the issues with her mother were largely self-inflicted by his friend.

"You could always apologise," he suggested, earning himself another frown from the brunette as they walked, "and explain _why_ you wanted them and got them when she said you couldn't. Is she suing them too?" he recalled that the West matriarch had taken legal action against the tattooists in the summer who had left the permanent mark on her daughter's right forearm.

"Probably; she called her lawyer after I got home that day."

"You'll be banned from every tattoo and piercing place in the state soon," he joked.

"That's probably mom's aim," she agreed with a half-smile.

The two made their way companionably to the Asphalt Café to meet their friends for lunch.

_Guidance Counsellor's Office_

Cat, meanwhile, had escaped from class the moment the bell sounded, much to the surprise of her two closest friends; they had eyed her with a little concern as she went before returning to the task of packing up and having their discourse both in the classroom and the closet. The little red-head had still not told any of her friends that she was talking to Lane about her multitude of 'personal problems'. Instead she made her way briskly to his office at the start of her lunch period, set her bag down on the floor and took a seat on the worn couch opposite the wicker chair in which the counsellor was ensconced.

"So Cat, how are you?" the counsellor began.

"Uh, pretty good, thanks," the cupcake loving girl answered; Lane smiled and waited for her to continue. "I've settled in to my Nona's house and I'm happy there. I do miss mom and dad and my brother. Mom and dad have called; I haven't spoken to my brother since Christmas though. They say he's doing fine and that they expect to be back home in a couple of weeks."

"Well that's good to here. I know you said you're happy where you are but are you looking forward to moving back home then?"

"Yes, it will be nice to be back there, though Sherwood _is_ a nice part of the city and I enjoy living there."

Lane nodded again.

"So how are you dealing outside of school?" he pressed. "You're quite a journey from your friends now, how are you dealing with that?"

"Well it's difficult to see Jade because of her mom grounding her," the girl disclosed; Lane raised his eyebrows slightly but didn't comment. "I can see the others but we tend to just go somewhere, the mall or Jet Brew, straight after school because that's easier than going to Nona's and then having to come back. But with Freddie working and having his gym and fencing hobbies, it is difficult to find time that we can all spend together," she conceded sadly.

"Have you made any friends in the area?"

"Not too many," she admitted. "There's a couple of malls nearby with movie theatres and places like that I could go but it's different going there alone to going with my friends."

"Well maybe try going one evening anyway," the staff member suggested, "just to do something different. You never know, you might meet some people your own age there. It can't hurt."

The short girl nodded with a smile. "I'll try tonight," she promised. "Thanks, Lane," and she got up to leave.

"Same time next week?"

"'kay 'kay."

She swung her bag over her shoulder and carefully left his office, arriving at the group's table for lunch shortly after Freddie and Jade had.

"What happened to you?" Jade enquired, knowing, of course, that the girl had left before they did – and that they had had their little discussion before going to the Asphalt Café.

"Oh, you know, I got talking to someone and then here I am," she answered vaguely.

"Talking? Talking to who?" the gothic girl pressed, earning a reproachful look from Beck; the Canadian actor clearly felt that his girlfriend was prying about something Cat was uncomfortable discussing. She ignored him and continued to stare at her childlike best friend; the cupcake-loving teen quickly cracked under the gaze.

"I went to see Lane," she admitted. "I was finding it difficult, you know, with my brother, my parents moving away, living with my Nona; I just needed someone that I could talk to about everything. I think he's helping," she finished defensively.

"That's great," Jade encouraged, feeling a little embarrassed that she had drawn the confession from the girl and trying to make it up to her a little by being supportive, "in fact," she shot a quick but meaningful look at Freddie, "I think people _should_ talk about things that are troubling them; it's probably better than bottling everything up. Good for you, Cat."

Her friend smiled happily at her words before the new arrival tucked ravenously into her lunch. Beck looked slightly mollified but still frowned a little when his girlfriend looked away, something that wasn't lost on Freddie. The tech genius, however, had a less contentious discussion for his long-haired friend.

"So Beck will you be fencing again this week?"

"Yes I will," the laid-back teen showed a rare flicker of excitement. "I got the all clear from the docs so I will be there with you this week. It's been too long."

"I've been keeping up with my lessons," André spoke up, "I think I'll actually be better than you now," he continued with a smile.

"Well hopefully I can catch up soon. How about you, Freddie, how's the advanced class going?"

"Really well, thanks," he began to explain, talking about the different things he'd learned and how much better he had got. He had even come across the obnoxious teens again (who had attacked him a year or so back outside the gym) and comfortably defeated them in practice bouts, despite them being older than he. "And we're heading to the gym as normal tomorrow?" he glanced to his musician friend for confirmation.

"Sure thing," André acknowledged. "I need to see my grandma after school but I'll do that before I meet you there."

"It must be nice now that you can go where you want when you want," Cat spoke up suddenly; the others turned to her to see if she would elaborate on the pronouncement. "Now you have your car," she explained, looking at the boy she had briefly dated, "I can't wait until mom and dad get back and get me a car too."

The others exchanged glances; none of them liked to voice it but the idea of Cat behind the wheel of a car was a prospect that provided more than a little foreboding for many of them given her easily distracted nature and tendencies.

Instead Freddie settled for agreeing with her. "It certainly helps," he said with a smile. The bell then alerted them to the end of lunch; the sophomore group made their way back inside the school for their afternoon lessons.

"Cat's getting a car then?" Freddie asked Jade to confirm when they sat together in Theatre History.

"I guess so; it's news to me," the black-clad girl informed him.

"Really? I thought she'd have at least mentioned something to _you_."

"I guess it depends when she found out; obviously we don't get to see one another outside of school right now with… everything that's been going on," there was just a hint of regret in the girl's tone; Freddie refrained from advising her to listen to her mother in the future.

"Ok everyone," the teacher called, looking to begin the class, "Just a reminder that we'll be finishing the course today, then next week will be the end of course test for this semester so make sure you revise _everything_ that we've covered, ok?"

"Do you think your mom would relax your grounding for a study session?" the boy asked optimistically once they had been given their task, answering questions relating to the final chapter of their text book; it covered the material that they had gone through over the last couple of classes.

"I could ask," his friend shrugged, "maybe she'd let _you_ or someone come over, just not let _me_ go to anybody else's house."

"See what she says, if she's cool with it then I can come over sometime, maybe after work on Wednesday and after fencing on Thursday? We can go through this course and make sure we're ready for the test."

"I will, I'll talk to her," she confirmed with a small smile. "I'm sure she doesn't want _her_ lesson to wreck the rest of my education," she smirked, pushing the dark blue hair extension away from her face to clear her vision.

"What do you think of Cat talking to Lane," she asked a few minutes later, when they had completed another of the questions.

Freddie glanced around the room to ensure that they weren't being overheard before giving a considered reply. "She's going through a lot of upheaval and thinks he can help her figure it out; good for her, like you said," he reminded her.

"You're still not going to talk to anyone though?" she pressed.

"I _have_ talked to people; you, Sam," he reminded her. "It took me some time but I've figured it out and got through it," he insisted, though after trying to swallow down his apprehension from the discussion with the girl over lunch he briefly questioned whether he was trying to convince her or himself.

"Great, so when are you going to get back together with Cat?" she challenged; their teacher buying him some more time to formulate his answer by coming over to check on them.

"Well?" she pressed once they were alone again.

Deciding that playing dumb would be useless, the boy smiled instead. "Cat's going through a lot of chizz right now," he pointed out, "let's wait until her parents get back then I'll try and talk to her once everything settles down in her life."

Jade nodded; his reasoning makes sense. "Don't leave it too long," she urged him.

_Asphalt Café._

_Tuesday, 12__th__ January 2010._

André was slightly out of breath when he arrived at the gang's table, set his lunch down and swung his leg over the seat in order to take it.

"Hey, where's the fire?" Freddie asked in an amused tone.

"I'm just in a bit of a rush today," he explained before turning to Beck. "You know how I'm just finishing my first script-writing class?" The long-haired actor nodded his confirmation, "well we need to put on the productions and I need a lead actor. Will you do it?"

"Sure," the laid-back Canadian shrugged, "just get me a copy of the script and let me know about rehearsals, opening night, costume, that sort of stuff."

Jade and Cat sat, slightly expectantly; both girls wondered if their friend would ask them to be the leading lady but no request came forth from the talented musician, he simply smiled, thanked his friend and began eating his lunch.

"So who's your leading lady?" Jade pried after a few minutes. The scriptwriter swallowed nervously at her customary glare.

"Meredith," he admitted cautiously, causing a ripple of glances to lap the table; the gothic girl darkened considerably and he studied the table, and the remainder of his food, with renewed intent.

* * *

"_Meredith?_" she snarled as she and Freddie took their seats in their Maths class; most unusually she had kept her counsel over lunch and not questioned her friend's choice. "He chose _her_ for the role? I need to watch her fawning all over Beck day after day?"

Freddie said nothing, content to let her rail against André's decision; he would later admit to her that he was surprised that their friend opted not to cast either her or Cat in the play. They discussed the situation off and on during lulls in the lesson or when they were busy with the tasks that their teacher had set them. Jade was clearly troubled by the thought of the dark brunette making moves on her man while they were working together; this was something that Freddie at least felt he could try to defend his friend over.

"It comes down to this; do you trust Beck?" he asked her simply, causing her to bite her tongue and really think about his question.

"I trust _him_," he admitted, "but I still don't want to watch her throwing herself at him on a daily basis."

_LA Fitness, 7021 Hollywood Blvd_.

The boys had just finished the cardiovascular part of their work-out and were taking on fluids before moving onto the weights machines. Freddie sat with his towel slung over his neck and wiped his forehead with one end of it to keep the sweat at bay in between sips from his water bottle.

"So this play you've written," he began conversationally; André turned to him, "why Meredith? I can think of a couple of other girls you could have chosen for the lead."

"She's in my class and she _is_ good," he argued.

"You'll know better than me," he conceded, "but I'd have thought Jade the obvious choice to play alongside Beck."

"Yeah but the girl in it is supposed to be all sweet and innocent," the songsmith explained.

"Jade can do sweet and innocent; she's a fantastic actress and could do it in her sleep – so could Cat."

André looked far from convinced. "Well I've already asked Meredith and she's said yes."

Freddie emptied his water bottle in one swallow before dropping it, along with his towel, on top of his bag before the two made their way over to start their weights routine.

_Hollywood Arts High School,_

_Wednesday, 13__th__ January 2010_.

Jade was leaning casually against her locker; she was trying her best to look unconcerned while Beck read through his copy of André's script. Following her talk with Freddie she had forced herself to concede that she _did_ trust Beck and that she had to give him the benefit of her doubts where his new co-star was concerned.

This trust was about to receive its first serious test, however, as the brunette in question, clad in a pink top and very short jean shorts, flounced along the corridor in search of the actor.

"Hi Beck," she called flirtatiously, seemingly oblivious to his girlfriend stewing by his shoulder. "Have a cupcake," she handed him the treat.

"Meredith, hey," he greeted her cordially and accepted her gift graciously. "Have you read through the script yet?"

"Yeah, André printed me a copy in class yesterday so I read it last night," she disclosed, continuing to smile at him, "and I thought that we could meet at my place this evening for a read-through and rehearsal together?"

"I dunno," he made a face, knowing that to accept would mean to suffer his girl's wrath in a few seconds; he could tell she was mere seconds from exploding as it is.

His co-star's face fell at his prevarication. "Well we _do _need to rehearse," she insisted. "I'll have more cupcakes there for you to try," she fluttered her eyelashes at him.

"Sure," he gave in with a smile, ignoring Jade looking daggers at him by his side. "Tonight then?"

"Great, I'll see you later," she grinned broadly and patted his arm as she walked away from them. The Canadian watched her leave with a smile before turning to his glaring girlfriend.

"You're going there?" she snarled.

"We need to rehearse," he reminded her. "And that's _all _that we'll be doing. I can't hang with you anyway, can I?" Jade, of course, was still grounded. He took a bite of his dessert. "Mmm, these are good," he said approvingly.

She glared again before turning on her heel and walking away from him under a cloud. Her boyfriend sighed, pinched his nose and walked to his own next class.

_West Residence, Hollywood Hills_.

Freddie was sat in the den; the tech producer eyed the blue-streak haired girl with growing concern as she paced the floor endlessly. They were supposed, of course, to be revising for their Theatre History class, but Jade was finding it impossible to focus at all, such was her anger with the situation and Beck's lack of interest in her concerns.

"Ok, stop for a second," he called, patting the seat next to him on the couch. She acquiesced and sat down next to him, resting her hands on her knees and letting out a few deep breaths.

"He's probably sampling her cupcakes right now," Jade lamented. Her mind returned to what she had been thinking about ever since Christmas and, she now feared, that if she had Meredith – and other girls – to compete with then sooner or later she would have to take that step in order to keep her man.

"You don't know that," Freddie put his left hand gently on her right thigh, seeing straight through his friend's euphemism, "and you don't know that he would want to cheat on you even if she did offer."

"Oh so you're defending them now?" the gothic brunette snapped.

"I'm trying to stop you from driving yourself nuts," he responded calmly, smiling at her in a reassuring manner before he sighed. "Look, I know you're worried about the whole thing but you said you trusted him."

"I _did_," Jade confirmed, "until he was all over her cupcake today and seemed eager for more. I guess I know what guys – _most_ guys," she amended quickly as she met his eyes, "will want from me."

"Not if they're worth your time," he countered firmly. She gave him a grateful smile but her eyes betrayed that she remained unconvinced. He sighed again. "Do you want me to talk to Beck? See if I can get him to see how this is affecting you?"

She gave him a small smile. "Thanks, he might actually listen to you. Now can we change the subject? I guess we should make a start on the homework before mom throws you out because we haven't done any studying and that was the only reason for her relaxing my grounding," she grinned. The brown-haired pair gathered their text books and made a belated start to their study session.

_Swordplay Fencing Studio, __416 S Victory Blvd, Burbank, CA_

_Thursday, 14__th__ January 2010._

It was the evening, finally, of Beck's return to the studio for his first lesson since injuring his knee a couple of months earlier. He wore a knee brace for extra support and began slowly, being put thoroughly through his paces by the instructors as a warm-up before his lesson began. Freddie and André took the opportunity for a quick spar while this was going on (though the musician wondered whether there was any point in doing so, even with his friend going _very_ easy on him it was always going to be a mismatch between the two of them). Afterwards they split up for their lessons, though André and Beck _were_ in the same group, the taller teens' lengthy absence meant that he was starting almost from scratch again and working hard in an attempt to catch up).

Freddie's lesson ended (the Advanced class was appreciably smaller than the beginners) and he stood watching his friend put some of the teachings into practice while Beck also looked on, impressed at how much the songsmith had improved over the weeks of his enforced absence.

"I was studying with Jade last night," the shorter teen began; Beck turned in slight surprise, unaware that his friend had joined him. "She's not too happy about Meredith," he cautioned.

"Yeah I noticed," the actor complained, "but that's not my fault. I can't stop her from being friendly, can I?"

"No but… do you _have_ to encourage it? Especially knowing that your girlfriend has a problem with it?"

"What _is_ her problem?" he countered, sounding genuinely frustrated. "We're in a play together and she's just a nice girl _being_ nice. Jade needs to chill and she needs to trust me."

Freddie bit his lip at the annoyance that his friend was showing. "She's just concerned," he tried to explain, "and I think deep down she's scared of losing you to someone else. I'm just saying that maybe you could take her concerns into account."

"I've done nothing wrong," Beck's voice rose a little in impatience, "it's her problem and she needs to deal with it."

The tech producer frowned; he wasn't happy – or impressed – with Beck's answer but wasn't willing to get into an argument or worse with his friend over it; _not right now anyway_, he thought. The conclusion of André's session gave him another reason to drop it for now; the three boys headed for the locker room to change before they went their separate ways.

_Sikowitz's Classroom, Hollywood Arts High School,_

_Friday, 15__th__ January 2010_.

The bell had just sounded for lunch when Freddie, Jade, Robbie, Eli and Cat exited the eccentric acting teacher's classroom together. André and Beck had been excused a couple of minutes earlier as they had permission to use the Black Box theatre for a formal rehearsal of the play.

"Rec room?" Freddie suggested to his friends. "We've not been there for a while," he observed.

"Sounds good to me," the sandy-blond agreed. "I've not beaten you at ping pong in a while."

"Try _ever,_" his friend shot back playfully; it was true that Freddie was the best player among them, given his reflexes from his fencing aptitude that he was able to transfer to a different sport. "Ladies?" he eyed the two girls.

"Yay, I love ping pong," Cat smiled. Jade looked somewhat less enthusiastic but, eager to learn the outcome his talk with Beck the previous night, she happily made her way across the school with the rest of them. After Robbie swiftly defeated his blond friend, leading to a little good-natured taunting, he handed the red-haired girl his bat and took a seat next to Jade; the two watched in silence as Eli and Cat played a rather comical game that soon had them both laughing.

"How did it go with Beck?" she asked in a low voice, mindful of Robbie sat close by, also watching the other two teens play; while Mrs West had relaxed her daughter's punishment for the Wednesday she was unwilling to do so for successive days, though she _had_ said that Freddie would be welcome to come over on the Sunday so that they could do some final preparation for their test.

"Not good I'm afraid," he admitted. "He just says that he's done nothing wrong, Meredith is just being friendly and that you need to trust him. I'm sorry Jade; I did my best," he conceded in defeat as his friend bowed her head.

"I know you did, thanks," she gave him a small smile and squeezed his forearm gently. She turned her gaze back to the game in front of her, pretending to focus her attention on it; neither she nor Freddie were convinced that she gave it even one second of undivided attention.

* * *

**AN: Thanks to all of you for reading; please feel free to drop me a review and let me know what bits you liked or didn't like and I hope to see you all next week where, all being well, a familiar face will join our little gang.**


	11. Chapter 11

**AN: Hello everyone and welcome to the latest little installment of this story. As always at this point my thanks go out to everyone for reading chapter 10 and especially to those of you who reviewed it.**

**Guest – some really good points about the story; Nona's advice, albeit blunt, was probably good, telling Cat she shouldn't wait forever. You make a point about her approaching him, though she could argue that she did that a few weeks ago and was told he "just wanted friends right now". As for Carly, she will make an appearance before too long, but there'll be plenty going on in her own life without trying to meddle in Freddie's again.**

**Fanfic-Reader-88 – in fairness to Beck, he didn't actually write the play, he was just cast in it. But yes, Cat and Freddie are both having those thoughts; if only life would stay out of the way long enough for them to actually talk at some point. Hopefully they will do soon.**

**Challenge King – Cat has her issues that she needs to deal with in order not to regress to the embarrassing point she did in latter series of the show. Freddie felt he owed Jade for all that she had done for him (being Freddie he'd have offered the friendly ear anyway but with the way they've bonded Jade felt that she could trust him).**

**Pbow – is Beck clueless? On the show he never took Jade's concerns seriously or stopped girls from trying to flirt with him so maybe he just likes the attention – and likes to see his girl getting jealous and possessive of him.**

**Guest – you're right; Beck acted like a jerk, much the way he does on the show in these scenarios.**

**Agent-M – Yes, Cat needs to make a decision and, as I said earlier, they really DO need to talk it all out if they want to get back together (which I think they both **_**do**_** want once life settles down).**

**Now please, enjoy chapter 11.**

* * *

Chapter 11

_Hollywood Arts High School, Los Angeles_.

_Monday, 25__th__ January 2010_.

Trina Vega arrived at school to see a huge crowd gathered around the notice board by the students' lockers.

"Is that the pairings for the showcase?" she asked a random face; its owner nodded. "Move," she instructed the crowd and began to force her way through it to the front, drawing disgruntled expressions from those that she pushed aside in her quest to reach the bulletin board; her face darkened as she read the appropriate sheet of paper. "Freddie Benson? A _tenth grader?_" the diva was irate at learning the identity of her partner for the showcase.

"Hey, Freddie's a good guy!" a voice from by her shoulder argued; despite their split and its acrimonious fall-out the previous autumn, and the complete absence of contact they had had with one another over the past few months, Lindsey felt compelled to defend the boy from Trina's disdain. "And he did a great job for me last year," she added smugly; the morning had been bittersweet for her so far as the notices had caused her to recall her performance at the Showcase the previous year, which in turn had led her thoughts to Freddie and snowballed into thinking about everything that had gone on since then. Defending the boy had helped her to remember and focus on the good times that they had had as a couple.

"Oh that's right, you know him," the brunette commented distractedly before brightening as an idea struck her. "Tell him to be at my house at seven-thirty tonight," she instructed the blonde.

Trina turned and parted the crowd as she walked off; as she left she heard her blonde classmate call after her in an annoyed tone, "Hey, I'm not your PA!"

"Seven-thirty!" the brunette repeated over her shoulder.

Lindsey frowned at her classmate's attitude and shook her head, though she did draw her phone from the pocket of her jeans. She smiled at some of the happier memories she had of her ex-boyfriend as she punched in the speed-dial number that had become near-automatic during their eight month long relationship, before feeling the familiar pangs of guilt and regret that came these days whenever she started thinking about how she had treated the sophomore at the very end of their time together (over the summer), a regret that intensified in the light of her subsequent discovery that the grass was far less green on the other side of the fence; things _really_ hadn't worked out with the guy she had dumped him for, she reflected sadly.

"Lindsey? What do you want?" The blonde's heart sank anew when she heard the surprise with which he said her name morph seamlessly into the hard, cold, flat tone in which the brown-haired boy voiced the question.

"Hi Freddie," she began contritely, "you've been partnered with Trina Vega for the Big Showcase – I'm sorry. Anyway, she wants you to go to her place this evening at seven-thirty," and she gave him the address.

"And you had to deliver the news for her?" he snapped.

"You don't know Trina," the junior girl shook her head regretfully, "well that's a 'delight' you'll soon experience then."

"Anything else?" Freddie asked impatiently, when the girl didn't respond he finished with a terse, "ok, bye," and rang off.

Lindsey stared at the now silent phone for a few seconds through increasingly blurring eyes before she slipped it back into her pocket; the girl sniffled and wiped away a couple of the stray tears before heading for her first class.

_Asphalt Café_.

"What was all that about?" Jade asked in concern as the boy finished his brief call; the gang were at their usual table and talking before school.

"Lindsey," he spat out in utter loathing and disgust, much to his friends' concern. "She was telling me about who I got partnered with for the Big Showcase this Friday; Trina Vega apparently."

"Man, she sucks," André complained. "I heard her trying to sing when I was working on my music one lunchtime – totally tone-deaf."

"She can't act either," Robbie supplied. "One of the plays I reviewed for the school paper? She was in it – stank the whole theatre out."

"I thought that was you after your burrito at lunch," Rex countered, drawing grins from the others, aside from Freddie who still looked as black as thunder following his phone call.

"Well we'll see, she wants me to go over there this evening so I guess that's what I'll have to do," the brown-eyed teen shrugged.

* * *

Cat was concerned. Throughout the day she had seen what, to her eye, appeared to be a decay in Freddie's mood; it was as if the happy boy who had come back after the Christmas break had suddenly disappeared again, replaced by the one that they had known from the last term. She voiced her concerns to Jade after their English class.

"I saw it too, right after he got the phone call from her." Even Cat did not need to ask who Jade was referring to.

"What do you think the problem is? I thought he was over her; he seemed to be after we got back to school. He was happy again!"

"I thought so too, maybe he did as well," the gothic girl shook her head ruefully. _Looks like we need to talk again, Freddie_, the brunette thought.

The blue-streak haired girl would get her chance at the start of the lunch period; she and her Seattle-born friend were together this term in Theatre History and it was the final class before their food break.

"Wait up a second," she demanded of him as they packed their things after class; he complied but gave her a curious, questioning look as their classmates filed out of the room.

"You're still bummed over talking to her aren't you?" the dark-haired girl surmised; he was surprised to be reminded, once again, of how blunt her manner could be, but nodded sadly in agreement.

"I thought I was good with it all – with what she did to me and with _everything_ about it," he complained miserably. "I really felt, when we came back here, that I was finally over her. Then she calls me up out of the blue and it just all gets dredged back up again," he buried his head in his hands and sighed wearily.

"_Talk to someone_," his friend insisted sternly, seizing his wrist which caused him to look up and see her eyes boring into his own. "You can't carry on like this forever," she continued in a sympathetic tone, "and it's clear now that you can't let it go and put this right on your own in time – something will happen that screws it all up for you again."

He nodded reluctantly; the idea of seeing a therapist and spilling his guts still nauseated him but he knew that the girl was right, that he had tried and failed to work through it on his own and that the spectre of the blonde would continue to haunt him until he finally _did_ conquer his demons.

"Let's get some lunch," he commented. Having got the acknowledgement, and agreement, from him Jade was happy to drop the issue for the time being; the two headed together to the Asphalt Café to meet their friends.

The remainder of the group greeted the pair happily; none had been oblivious to Freddie's worsening mood and it had been a topic of discussion between Cat and the rest before he and Jade arrived, so to see the boy at least trying to smile was pleasing to them. His friends plied him with subtle words of support and encouragement as he took his seat and he was grateful for their backing; with their minds on other things neither he nor Jade paid attention to the neutral, almost blank expression on Beck's face as he watched the pair.

* * *

Freddie was surprised by the ringing of his phone as he, Cat and Jade left the school together after their last class of the day; the trio had just come across André and Beck, the latter was waiting for his girlfriend, as they did.

"Oh, it's Spencer," he commented in a curious tone as he checked the caller ID. "He doesn't usually call; I wonder what he wants." He answered the call and placed the device to his ear. "Hey dude, how are you?" he asked with a smile on his face at the contact with his long-time friend and neighbour. Then, after a few moments of frantic, garbled speech from the lanky Seattleite sculptor, "Spencer? Whoa whoa whoa slow down… what happened? She WHAT? Is she ok? Uh huh, I'll be up on the first flight I can get and see you there later tonight."

"What's the matter?" Cat asked in a concerned tone, seeing the look of panicked horror her friend now wore as he rang off.

"That was Spencer; you know – Carly's brother?" The others nodded; they knew _of_ the elder Shay sibling from Freddie's tales and his occasional appearances on his little sister's web show, which they watched from time to time (though privately none of them felt that it was all _that_ good). "She was in an accident; she got hit by a truck. She's in hospital – they don't _think_ it's life-threatening but she's hurt pretty bad."

Cat gasped and placed a hand over her heart at the news; despite the brunette's meddling that had led to her and Freddie's break-up the previous year, the good-hearted red-head was horrified at the thought of her being badly hurt.

"So you're going up there? How long for?" Jade asked with a blend of surprise and concern in her tone.

"I need to go see her and make sure she's ok. I'll stay as long as I need to but hopefully it will just a few days. At least with the break next week I have a bit of time if I need or want to stay longer."

"Will you be back in time for the performance?" she was slightly surprised that he would blow off his first actual starring role in the Big Showcase.

"Well I won't be able to rehearse, that's for sure." He ran his hand through his hair as the consequences of his proposed actions occurred to him and he deliberated on the best, and fairest, thing that he could do for everybody involved. "I guess I'd better drop out. André, you weren't assigned anyone were you?"

"No, I heard they kicked some girl out a few days ago and I assume that I was supposed to partner her so I ended up as the odd one out. I'll take your place – even if it is alongside _Trina_."

"Thanks dude," he smiled gratefully before looking across the car park towards his vehicle. "I need to get to the airport; see you all in a few days," he called as he sped off.

"Wait," Jade called; he turned back as all eyes turned to the gothic girl. "You're going to need someone to bring your car back so you're not stuck with a week of parking charges at LAX, right?"

The boy sighed and ran a hand through his hair again. "I hadn't thought about it; you're right," he shot her a small, appreciative grin.

"I got my permit earlier this month. I could drive it back?" she offered.

"Sure," he smiled gratefully at her. The girl kissed her boyfriend and promised to see him later, though both would need to spend time with their respective partners for the showcase as well; Jade also still had her grounding to contend with, which would make seeing Beck rather more tricky for her.

"If the cops stop me for driving with you in the car we'll try and sweet-talk them."

"Yeah, you can take that job," she commented with a smirk, one that Freddie returned as the two sped off for the airport; en route they made a very brief stop at Freddie's house for him to load up a bag with a couple of changes of clothes and some other essentials.

"Can you do me a favour and text my mom?" he asked, extricating his phone from his pocket, "I didn't have time to write a note so if you can just let her know where I'm going, why and that you'll be dropping the car off at home?" Jade nodded. "And try to make it sound _a little_ like me," he added, shooting the girl a small grin.

"Spoil all my fun," she laughed back as she accepted the device and sent a polite 'Freddie' message to the Benson matriarch; Marissa called his phone a few moments later.

"Hey mom," he sighed, Jade holding the phone to his right ear so that he could keep both hands free for his driving. "I can't really talk too much as I'm headed for the airport right now… mom, mom, Carly's hurt, she's in the hospital and I need to go and see her. I'm not sure if she's awake – or how badly hurt she was. No, I'll stay with Spencer; they have plenty of space there. Yeah, I'll be back in a few days. Ok, you too, bye."

"Let me guess, she's not happy," his gothic friend commented drily. The corner of Freddie's mouth twitched a little as he suppressed a smirk.

"No, not really but she knows I'm going – even if she doesn't fully understand _why_ I'm going up. Oh it might be an idea to call _your_ mom too," he observed as the thought struck him, "make sure she knows that you're not just ditching on your grounding?"

"Good thinking," she congratulated him and tapped in her mother's cell phone number to make the call.

_Los Angeles International Airport (LAX)_.

Freddie hopped out of the car and Jade slid across the front to replace him in the driver's seat while he retrieved his newly packed bag back from the back seat. "Take good care of her," he urged his friend.

"I'm not going to wreck it if that's what you're worried about," she rolled her eyes a little at him.

"That and _you_," he explained. "I've just had one friend injured in a road accident, I don't need another."

"I'll be careful," she promised sincerely as she understood his fears. "See you soon Freddie."

"Bye Jade," he smiled, closing the back door and watching for a moment as she drove away before he headed inside the airport to procure a ticket and head back to his native city for a few days.

_Vega Residence, Hollywood Hills_.

Tori Vega stood in front of an odd-looking bush, from which hung a number of mouldy items of food; she had a folder balanced on her left hand with a pencil in her right, poised to make some notes.

"Let's see, the bread mould," she mentioned to her long, brown-haired project partner.

"Bread mould," he echoed, tapping away on his pear top computer.

The brunette set her folder down and seized a magnifying glass, studying what used to be a piece of bread before announcing her prognosis. "Furry," she noted before squeezing it. "Mushy," she added; her friend repeated the two words.

"Next, the fish mould," her expression suggested that this wasn't something that she was looking forward to, however… "Spongy," she observed, "stinky," and tried to wipe her hands off on one another.

"I am so upset," Trina Vega wailed as she stormed into her house, interrupting her younger sister; Tori wrinkled her nose at the aroma from the bush before turning to her irate older sister. "You won't believe who I got partnered with for the big showcase."

"Who?"

"Freddie Benson, a _tenth grader_."

"What's the big showcase?" Tori's friend asked.

"It's a performance they put on at her school every year where they…" Tori began before Trina interrupted, seizing his hand and guiding him from his chair.

"They invite agents and directors and producers, and other super-powerful people in show business, and it's _extremely_ important to me, which is why I'm very upset and goodbye!" the elder Vega led the boy to the front door and out into the Los Angeles night.

"Hey! He and I have a science project due tomorrow. I have to turn in my mould bush," Tori complained.

"No, Freddie's coming over and you got to help us figure out what we're going to do in the big showcase," Trina contradicted. "I _definitely_ want to sing," she added before playing a chord on the piano in the living area and delivering a near-screeching note with her voice. "How was that?" she asked.

"Loud?" was all Tori could supply, but it contented her sister.

"Awesome," was the older girl's reply.

The doorbell to the Vega home rang.

"Ugh! He's here," Trina noted with mild disgust, walking towards the door. "Stay!" she commanded as Tori took a step towards it.

The elder sister opened the door to reveal André waiting outside.

"Come in," Trina sighed.

"Thanks," he told her uncertainly.

"Tori, _that's_ Freddie," she waved at the boy.

"Um, I'm André," he pointed out, surprised that she knew – and clearly cared – so little about the identity of her partner for the event. "Freddie can't make the showcase."

"What? Why not?" Trina was scandalised.

"He had to rush up to Seattle; a friend of his is in hospital after being hit by a truck."

"So he just _bailed_ on me?" Trina was incredulous.

"His friend is in hospital," the songsmith repeated, "he had to go and be with her."

"Well I guess you'll have to do then," the diva conceded.

"Oh, nice piano," the appreciative musician observed, taking a seat and playing a complicated jazz riff.

"Oh my God, you're fantastic!" Tori complimented the sophomore.

"He's ok," Trina admitted reluctantly, to the boy's annoyance as she damned him with faint praise. André then sniffed curiously, locating the odd odour on Tori's hand and taking a closer look.

"Fish mould," she explained and he swiftly dropped the appendage.

_Virginia Mason __Hospital__, 925 Seneca Street, Seattle_

Freddie had dashed straight from the plane as soon as the doors were disarmed and passengers permitted to disembark; with only carry-on luggage he was able to skip the wait at the baggage claim carousel and instead headed straight outside the airport to join the short line at a cab rank. He got into a taxi and asked to be taken to the hospital where Spencer had informed him that Carly was being treated.

He arrived and was directed by the receptionist towards the room where his friend, and one-time crush, was; he got there to see Spencer sat by his sister's bedside, squeezing and stroking her hand gently as she lay there.

"Hey Spence," the Hollywood Arts student whispered, causing his friend to jump slightly before turning to him with a genuine smile on his face.

"Freddie, you're here; it's great to see you," he welcomed the teen, pulling him into a hug.

"You too, I just wish it wasn't because of…" he trailed off and gestured towards the injured brunette. "How is she?" he asked cautiously.

"No news yet," he replied sadly, "the doctors are hopeful that she's going to be ok in time but for now we're just waiting."

"Have they said _anything_ about her injuries?" the newcomer asked nervously.

"She broke her right ankle and badly hurt the lower leg from the impact; she jumped away just at the last moment according to the driver and one of her friends, who saw it happen, but hit her head on the kerb as she landed. They've checked for any obvious head trauma and don't _think_ that there's anything major but we won't know until she wakes up," he covered his nose with his hand as he began to sob at the thought of his 'baby sister' being badly injured.

Freddie wrapped a consoling arm around him as he fought to keep his own composure; it pained him to see the girl lying there and stirred his heart a little though, his brain was able to process, he didn't feel _anything_ other than concern. For so long he had wanted a shot with the brunette but now as he gazed on her battered and broken form all he felt was fear for his friend; the crush of his early teen years had well and truly gone. It was a thought that led him briefly back to the little red-head a thousand miles to the south; he wondered how she was and whether he would ever be ready to take a chance on her again; he shrugged the speculation off and returned his focus to his injured friend.

A doctor bustled in a few minutes after him; he asked the boy to wait outside so he could discuss the girl's prognosis with immediate family. While waiting for more news Freddie thought of Sam, deciding to call her as he thought that his blonde best friend would want to know what had happened.

"Hey Freddie, not heard from you in a couple of weeks, how are you?" she asked the brown-haired boy in a bright voice as she answered.

"I'm good Sam but… I'm up in Seattle," he disclosed.

"Really? I thought you'd be in school," she sounded rather surprised at his revelation.

"I _was_ there today but I got a call from Spencer as we were leaving for the day," he informed her. "Carly got run over by a truck; she's unconscious in the hospital up here."

While Sam was surprised by the news, the brown haired boy gleaned from her that, though she was a little concerned, she had no intention of coming back to her home city to see the girl. She understood why Freddie was there but, she explained, she can't bring herself to share his desire to visit after what happened between them – with her being ditched so unceremoniously while she was in juvie and replaced by the brunette's new friends at Briarwood.

"I understand," he sighed, slightly disappointed but willing to accept her position and reasoning. "I'll talk to you later."

"Sure," Sam said. "I'll give you a call on your birthday and I'll put a card and something in the mail."

"Thanks Sam, see you later," he told her warmly before she rang off; he returned to the room, the doctor having just left, surprised to see that the Shay siblings were still alone.

"Have any of her friends been here?"

"Wendy was here when I arrived; she was the one who saw it and came in with her," he revealed. Freddie nodded as he recalled the ginger-haired girl from his year group at the Seattle school. "I haven't seen anybody else; I guess they don't know yet as I don't have anyone else's number."

_Bushwell Plaza, Seattle, WA_

"Spencer, can I talk to you about something?" Freddie asked as the two sat in front of the TV; it was late evening but both were too wired on coffee and concern for Carly to think about sleeping.

"Sure Freddo, what's up?" The lanky sculptor was grateful for a potential distraction and smiled warmly at the younger boy.

"Something… happened in my life and it's affected me ever since," he began vaguely. "I told one of my friends, Jade, and she's been really great – Sam too when I told her, but I need to talk to someone else, someone who may be a little more objective and insightful on it than a teenager."

"And you're asking _me_?" the man-child joked before turning serious. "Go ahead; you can tell me _anything_."

Freddie set his cup down; he was done with coffee for today – in fact he was thinking of swearing off it for good right now.

"My girlfriend," he began before correcting himself, "my _ex-_girlfriend – we broke up just before school started again – she uh… she seduced me after the Prom," he rushed out as quickly as he could. The elder Shay's jaw dropped; he briefly wondered if it was his younger friend's lame attempt at a very bad joke until he saw the look of… _shame_ was the only way to describe what his little sister's one-time best male friend's face wore. "It took me a while, _a long time_ to come to terms with it and accept that _it_ had happened between us and then once I thought that I had done, suddenly I was dumped for another guy and it all began to hurt again," he explained. He shook a little yet also felt some of the hurt in his heart lifting a little as he verbalised and shared all his innermost and most painful feelings.

Spencer remained silent as the teenager continued to talk through everything that had gone on over the past few months, all that he had thought and felt in relation to the incident, how it had affected him and _continued_ to affect him – particularly how it had discouraged him from ever putting his heart out there again and risking something similar happening again. The man-child's mind raced at a hundred miles per hour as he processed everything that he had just heard.

"The first thing to remember," the artist began kindly, "is that this _wasn't your fault_; you did _nothing wrong_. _She_ got you drunk and took advantage of you," the words _statutory rape_ floated around his head before they reminded him of those horrendous three days of law school he had suffered before dropping out. "The second thing," his voice firmed as he drew on his own experience, "is that _nobody_ can promise never to hurt you in love – I think you got a taste of that from my little sister," he smiled sadly realising there was a dual meaning; both Carly's rejections of the younger Freddie's amorous advances and her role in sabotaging his fledgling relationship with one of his schoolmates. "But when you meet someone who you think _is_ worth the risk then you have to take a leap of faith and believe that it will be worth it. And if it fails, we hurt and we deal and we try again."

The boy nodded; it seemed sensible advice. All that he was lacking was the will to put into practice.

_Wednesday, 27__th__ January 2010_.

It was the day that the tall artist had prayed for ever since he received news of the accident; a call just before seven in the morning gave him the news that he had longed for.

The previous day had been difficult for them; they had woken up, had a quiet breakfast and gone to the hospital, sitting at Carly's bedside for hour after hour waiting and hoping for her to wake up, while periodically a doctor would look in, raise one of the girl's eyelids, poke, prod and peer with some of his instruments before informing them that there had been no change but that they had not found anything to suggest that Carly wouldn't soon wake up – or that she wouldn't, mentally at least, be the Carly of old pretty much straight away.

They had arrived home fairly late, having stopped off for a pizza as both realised just how hungry they were after a day at the hospital, and were surprised to see a teenage boy stood outside the door to the Shay apartment as they arrived.

"Mike?" Spencer, of course, knew his sister's boyfriend; Freddie stood a pace or two away as the two Seattleites conversed.

"Hey Spencer, where's Carly? I haven't seen her since we were in the park on Monday afternoon and then she wasn't at school today and –" he trailed off at the looks that the two guys wore. "What happened?" he asked as his tone filled with dread.

They had explained it to him and he had reacted with horror at his girlfriend's injury, promising to visit the following day now that he knew what had happened. Spencer was glad, therefore, that the boy would have some good news to confront him on his arrival.

"Freddie, Freddie!" he called as he raced stumbling through the apartment, tumbling up the stairs and colliding with the guest bedroom door. His former neighbour awoke with a start and, in a slight daze, padded across the floor to the door, which he opened in order to determine the cause of the commotion; with nothing to work on he began to fear the worst with his host's urgent tone.

Unfortunately, once he opened the door, there was nothing to oppose gravity acting on the lanky sculptor; he flopped comically onto the guest room floor, earning himself a faceful of carpet.

"Spencer?" Freddie asked cautiously, surprised to see his friend smiling so broadly despite the predicament.

"The hospital called," he announced brightly, "Carly woke up a few minutes ago."

"That's awesome," the boy cheered. "When do we go?"

"Right now? We can stop at Galini's on the way and get some takeout pie. Let's celebrate!" The elder Shay bounced to his feet and dashed out of the room, just about keeping his balance as he flew downstairs again. Freddie smiled broadly and gathered his clothes for the day ahead.

_Virginia Mason __Hospital__, 925 Seneca Street_

"What do you remember?" Freddie asked earnestly after the two had greeted the once again conscious brunette; she seemed thrilled to see her old friend and rather touched that he had made the long journey north after learning about her little incident.

"Well," she began, "I had been to Occidental Park with Mike; my boyfriend – and camera guy," she clarified for Freddie, who, to his regret, owing to the on-going dramas in his own life didn't know everything about all of the latest goings on in the brunette's (though he had, of course, briefly met the boy the previous night), "he had to go home but while I was in the area I headed down 3rd past Jackson and on to King; I needed to get a ticket for my next trip to Yakima to visit granddad," Freddie nodded as he visualised the facility she meant, "and after getting the ticket I saw Wendy across the street, she's one of the only people who goes to Ridgeway that I'm still in touch with," the brunette lamented a little, "she waved, I waved back, glanced to see if anything was coming and headed over the road to see her. Suddenly I saw her point, I looked left and there was a truck coming right at me. I jumped, I remember _a lot_ of pain and then I woke up here."

"You didn't hear it coming?" Freddie was surprised.

"I had my ear buds in and pear pod on," she explained. "Where is that by the way?" she asked her brother, having not seen the item since she regained consciousness.

"It's uh, spread across South King," he informed her sadly. "It broke, probably from when you hit the ground."

"Oh," she sounded disappointed.

"Well at least I know what to get you for your next birthday," Freddie tried to lighten the mood. He took her hand gently in his own and traced the back of it with his thumb. "Thank God there are going to _be_ more birthdays for you," he whispered sincerely; she smiled back at him.

"Freddie?" an incredulous voice called from the doorway a few moments later. "Oh my God it _is_ you!" Wendy cried as the ginger-haired girl entered the room. "Wow, I haven't seen you since you left Seattle what, a year and a half ago?" She pulled him into a quick, friendly hug.

"Something like that. How are you Wendy?"

"I'm good thanks. Are you ok?" she turned to the bed-bound brunette.

"Yeah," Carly grimaced as she tried to make herself comfortable; the boys left the two girls to talk and went to find a machine that served over-priced and tasteless coffee.

_Black Box Theatre, Hollywood Arts High School, Los Angeles_

The last class of the day had ended; Cat and her partner had arrived at the theatre having managed to book the prime slot of right after school in order to rehearse; Jade was sat in front of the stage, both so that she could watch her best friend and because she and her own partner were on next. The little red-head surprised her friend by showing an aptitude for juggling (which she did while singing); Jade was surprised that she could show sufficient focus to carry out both simultaneously and smiled at the sight.

"You ready?" a timid voice in her ear enquired; she turned to face her partner who, despite being a junior, was clearly terrified of her.

"Of course," she confirmed tersely. "I have the song by heart; just don't screw up playing the tune."

"I'll try not to," he replied weakly. Jade smirked at his retreating back as he tried to control his trembling. She turned her gaze back to the stage as the short teen's routine came to an end and stood up, making her own way to the front to begin her rehearsal.

_Vega Residence_

_Thursday, 28__th__ January 2010_.

_**TwitFlash: **__ToriVega: 4 DAYS helping Trina and André rehearse. Trina's driving me INSANE!_

_André TheSlap: I hear ya._

Freddie and his friends had found a way to let the kids' Slap updates automatically link to TwitFlash if they so wanted so Tori and her sister's Showcase partner had been able to keep in contact that way during the week. They had bonded a little over their mutual frustration with Trina, who was busily learning the song that André had written, along with a corresponding dance routine. Privately Tori felt they'd been through it so often that she knew almost the whole thing herself.

She joined the talented musician in her home's back yard as he ended a call to his grandmother, who was planning to attend the event and see him in action.

"It's going to be the first time she left the house in six years," she explained. In answer to Tori's wondering why he elaborated, "The woman's afraid of everything: people, umbrellas, rabbis, bikinis, breakfast foods…"

"So if she saw a rabbi in a bikini eating pancakes…" Tori speculated.

"The woman would burst into flames," his tone was laced with resignation.

Further discussion was curtailed by an impatient pounding of the piano and an urgent call of "You guys, come on," from inside the house.

"Back to rehearsal," Tori sighed.

"Let's go," André agreed and they made their way back inside.

_Main Theatre, Hollywood Arts High School_

_Friday, 29__th__ January 2010_.

_**TwitFlash**__: ToriVega: Ditching school – going to Trina's BIG SHOWCASE_

Tori sat in the audience next to her parents while the talented kids from the school put on their performances. She had sat through several of them before a member of staff unexpectedly called the three of them backstage where they saw Trina stood with a hugely swollen tongue, which Tori put down to the Chinese Herb Gargle that her sister had found on the internet.

The school nurse adjudged that the girl couldn't possibly perform; André was disappointed as it meant that his grandmother's trip had been wasted until Lane, who had brought the Vegas backstage, asked if anybody else knew Trina's part.

"Her sister does!" the musician realised brightly.

"Me sister?" Tori was mortified at the thought. "No. No, no, no," she declined, "I just helped them rehearse; I'm not even a student here. I couldn't go…"

André dragged her to one side. "You know this whole thing inside and out. The song, the choreography. You can do this, come on," he tried to persuade her without success.

"Uh uh," she refused.

"She said she'll do it," he cried and the girl's fate was sealed.

* * *

Cat stood in the wings watching with bemusement as the last minute change of plans unfolded; she was rather surprised at the sight of this unfamiliar, and very reluctant, girl being literally _pushed_ onto the stage by Lane. The spotlight fell on her and André struck up the song's introduction slowly.

"_Here I am, once again,_" she began quietly,"_feeling lost but now and then,_

_I breathe it in to let it go,_" The girl gestured to her new friend to speed up; he conveyed the message to the rest of the band.

"_And you don't know…_" suddenly as she sped up something extraordinary happened; the brunette smiled and her nerves seemed to evaporate. Cat raised her eyebrows wondering how she hadn't come across such an able singer at all before now in her year-and-a-half at the school.

"… _where you are now, or what it would come to if only somebody could hear._

_When you figure out how, you're lost in the moment, you disappeaaaaaaaaar,_" the girl continued powerfully; Cat was not the only one impressed, the Vega parents and older sister seemed amazed at her, hereto undiscovered, ability.

"_You don't have to be afraid to put your dreams in action, you're never going to fade, you'll be the main attraction._

_Not a fantasy, just remember me when it turns out right._

'_Cause you know that if you live in your imagination, tomorrow you'll be everybody's fascination,_

_In my victory, just remember me when I make it shine!_"

Robbie, stood next to Cat, Trina and Lane, began applauding wildly along with the rest of the audience as the girl continued her impeccable routine; the four, along with the others in the wings, swamped the girl as the curtain came down following an impromptu standing ovation at the end of the song.

"Oh my God, sweetie!" Mrs Vega hugged her youngest daughter.

"That was incredible!" her father agreed in turn.

"It was?" She seemed to be in shock at the turn of events.

"You're _really_ Trina's sister?" Lane asked in shock; much to the older girl's affront; she mumbled unintelligible via her swollen tongue.

"It was the most amazing thing," her father continued as the others talked all at once adding their own congratulations.

"Are you serious? I was freaking out," she admitted.

"Excuse me," Principal Eikner joined the gathering and introduced himself; Cat was disappointed as it meant that she couldn't get to speak to this girl herself. "You don't go to school here?" he asked the new sensation.

"No, I…" she began to explain before he cut her off.

"Do you _want_ to?"

"Should I?" Tori was shocked at the suggestion; André, Trina, the others surrounding her and the entire audience managed to convince her that it was a good idea.

_Hollywood Plaza, 2011 North Highland Avenue, Los Angeles, California_

_Monday, 1__st__ February 2010_.

Cat smiled as she sat at a table in the Food Court; the little red-head had found a stand that sold smoothies on a previous excursion to the mall over the weekend (she was taking her Nona's advice and trying to meet a few people her own age in the local area while she was still here) and the girl was taking advantage of the week's break between semesters by busily sampling the various flavours on offer in an attempt to identify a favourite. She turned to her phone and began texting her mother, who had just sent her a quick update on what was going on with them (they would be staying one more week before travelling back from Idaho – without her brother who was now almost fully settled into the hospital), only to be surprised when two more drinks were set down on the surface. She looked up to see a boy with black, slightly untidy hair and a stud in his ear smiling nervously at her.

"This is for you," he began in a shaky voice, "I see that you like smoothies so I thought I'd get you one."

"Oh thank you, that's sweet of you," she smiled at the kind boy before shooting him a slightly confused look as she wondered why he'd do such a thing.

"I'm Danny," he volunteered.

"My name's Cat," she replied.

"Do you go to Sherwood school?" he pulled a bit of a face, "because I don't remember seeing you around there."

"Oh no, I go to Hollywood Arts," she clarified, "I'm just staying here with my grandmother while my parents are in Idaho with my brother. I'll be going back home in a couple of weeks."

"That's a pity," he blurted out before he could stop himself; Cat smiled warmly at him, relaxing her new friend in an instant and encouraging him to remain in the seat opposite and continue the conversation with her.

_Apartment 8-C, Bushwell Plaza, Seattle_

_Wednesday, 3__rd__ February 2010_.

Freddie and Spencer returned to the Shay apartment after their latest trip to the hospital, buoyed by the news that Carly could come home the next day; the artist began to set about preparing something for them to eat.

"So how are _you_ Freddie?" Spencer asked in concern; he had been troubled ever since the boy had opened up to him the previous week, and knew for a fact, from sharing the apartment with him recently, that Freddie wasn't sleeping too well.

"Me? Oh I'm fine," he tried to reassure his host, only to receive a searching, calculating and challenging look in return. "Why wouldn't I be?" he defended.

"After what you told me last week?" the long-haired sculptor pressed, "and _when_ it was, how long it's been and you're still struggling with it. I know you're not sleeping either; I can hear you on a night," he pointed out.

"I thought I was good with it all, I really did," the boy began, then he sighed. "I decided at New Year to let it go, then she called me up out of the blue last Monday and suddenly I was right back at square one again. Coupled with concern for Carls, even though I know she's going to be ok and is coming home, and you're right; sleep isn't coming right now."

"Look," he laced his fingers and rested his wrists on his knees as he leaned towards the younger male, "it's completely natural for what that girl did to have screwed you up; she _raped_ you for crying out loud," he finally voiced it. Freddie looked like he'd been punched in the gut; he'd never actually thought of it in those terms and now that he had it suggested to him, and he was encouraged _to_ think of the incident like that, his entire way of thinking about the night and morning after the Prom was changing by the second. He sat in stunned silence as Spencer continued to talk; it wasn't until the elder Shay sibling had given up on talking and finished preparing dinner that he actually snapped back to reality.

"I think I can finally actually start to deal with it now," he whispered, shaking a little as the waves of emotion wracked his body. "Thank you Spencer."

"Any time buddy," he smiled, placing a hand on the boy's shoulder and giving it a gentle squeeze. "And if you need to talk a little more, you know where to find me."

"Yeah, it's not like you have a job to keep you busy," the teen joked.

"Oh God no," the artist looked horrified at the thought.

_Thursday, 4__th__ February 2010_.

Freddie held the door open while Carly hobbled through it, using crutches to keep the weight off her broken ankle. The brunette smiled at her friend before making her way to the couch and collapsing on it while Spencer brought up the rear, holding his little sister's bag of clothing and other accessories that she had had with her at the hospital.

"Oh, it's good to be home," she declared with a smile on her face as she settled into her seat, propped her wounded leg on the coffee table and picked up the TV remote; the girl then began to flick through the channels in a quest for something to watch.

"It's good to see you here again, baby sister," Spencer patted her head affectionately.

"What are you doing?" she asked Freddie curiously, seeing him busy with his laptop a few minutes later.

"Checking for flights back to Los Angeles," he explained, "now that you're home and well and I know that you're definitely going to be ok, I really need to get back for work this weekend, school next week – and mom really wants me back in time for my birthday on Saturday."

"Oh," Carly looked disappointed. "I was hoping we'd have a little longer before you went."

He set his computer aside and scooted next to her on the couch. "It would have been nice," he agreed, "but you'll have your other friends and… and Mike is it? to come over and see you. Maybe you could head down and visit _us_ over Spring Break or something if you're off those things by then," he suggested.

"I guess," she replied weakly, "but I do miss _you_ Freddie."

He patted her thigh and squeezed it softly through her jeans as he gave her a soft smile. "I miss you too Carls," he admitted. "We need to chat more regularly from now on."

"Definitely," she agreed before they lapsed into companiable silence and watched _Celebrities Under Water_.

"Ok I have spaghetti tacos," Spencer called from the kitchen a little later. "They'll be ready in a minute if you can help Carly to the table," he addressed Freddie who immediately helped the younger Shay unsteadily to her good foot and furnished her with her crutches before helping to steer her into the kitchen and collecting some glasses and water for the three of them. "So when are you thinking of going?" he asked the Hollywood Arts student during the meal.

"Tomorrow afternoon probably," he explained, "so I can be back to do a weekend at work and catch up on some of the hours that I've missed recently. They understood," he shot a quick glance at Carly to show that he didn't blame her for his missing work, or that it was going to cause him any problems, "but I do need to make up the lost time."

The Shays nodded; both of the siblings were disappointed that he'd be leaving so soon but they appreciated that he had his own life that he needed to return to.

_Seattle-Tacoma Airport_

_Friday, 5__th__ February 2010_.

The three were waiting for Freddie's flight to be called; they had found a bank of seats so that Carly didn't have to stand; even with crutches she didn't want to be spending more time than she had to on her feet while she gave her body a chance to heal up from the accident.

Finally the tannoy called Alaska Airline Flight 458 and Freddie stood, turning to face the Shay children.

"Well, that's me I guess." He swooped down to give Carly a quick, nonchalant cheek kiss and hug; despite having a boyfriend the brunette found herself a little disappointed that he didn't linger the way he had in years gone by but brushed it off as she took his hands in her own to garner his attention for a few more seconds.

"Take care, Freddie," she whispered.

"You too Carls," he smiled back before she released him and he faced her brother, who had stood up along with him. "Spencer," he said, nodding at the older Shay, "thank you – for _everything_."

The tall artist understood the loaded meaning behind that word; he nodded at the boy.

"Any time, you know you're always welcome and – you can always call for a chat if you need to talk about _anything_." He left it in those terms and the two ignored his sister's curious, questioning look at the vagueness of their exchange; Freddie nodded and they shook hands before turning it into a quick man-hug. The two had continued to talk for the following couple of days whenever Spencer could get the boy alone (usually while Carly was napping or else he snuck up to talk to Freddie while the invalid was sat watching TV) and it appeared that they were making some progress; the last couple of nights had certainly been far better for the teenager's sleep pattern.

Freddie then picked up his bag, gave the two siblings one last smile and a wave before turning and making his way for the flight back to California.

_Asphalt Café, Hollywood Arts High School_

_Monday, 8__th__ February 2010_.

"Freddie!" André waved as he spotted his friend making his way towards them having traversed the parking lot. The other members of the group turned in response; each wore a smile as they saw their friend again and most dug in their bags retrieving the birthday cards that they had intended to give him at some point during their week off.

"Hey guys, thanks," he accepted their cards with a grateful smile before fielding a few questions about his friend's health and well-being. "So what did I miss?" he enquired as he sought to change the subject to a more pleasant one.

"Well, I spent last week working on the music for one of the plays that's going to be put on this semester, oh and we've a new girl starting after what happened in the showcase," André told him.

"Really?"

"Yeah, she's Trina Vega's little sister."

"Oh my God," Freddie was horrified at the prospect.

"No, no, this one's really talented," Cat explained.

"And _hot_!" interjected Rex.

"So how come?" Freddie pressed, ignoring the puppet. "What happened at the Showcase?"

"Well it started with a Chinese Herb Gargle," his songsmith friend began, much to the tech producer's bewilderment, explaining the events of that Friday.

"Did you manage to figure out who got kicked out in the first place?" he asked curiously as they headed inside.

"No," Jade complained ruefully as she was denied the opportunity to mock the ejectee, "we know someone left but we've no idea who it was."

"Hmm, maybe I can do some sleuthing via The Slap," he speculated before the bell called them inside.

Cat had just finished getting organised for the day ahead and was walking away from her locker when she heard the brunette singer she'd watched at the showcase call "I'm alone" in a frustrated tone. The girl in question (_Tori I think it was _the red-head thought) then called to her as she passed,

"Hey, can you tell…"

"Oh, my God! You're Tori, right?" Cat interrupted, glad of the chance to finally get to speak to her.

"Uh-huh," she confirmed her identity.

"You were so awesome in the Big Showcase," the cupcake-loving girl gushed.

"Oh, thanks."

"My name's Cat," she introduced herself.

"Oh, like the animal," Tori noted.

"What's that supposed to mean?" she asked in affront.

"Nothing," the brunette continued apologetically, "I love cats."

"Oh me too, they're so cute!" Cat walked away in the direction of her class having said this, leaving a bewildered Tori staring after her, still none the wiser as to where her first lesson's classroom actually was.

"Sorry about her," Freddie said to the perplexed brunette as he approached her, having witnessed the end of the girls' exchange, "she's a little… like that. Wait," comprehension seemed to dawn as he appraised her, "you're _her_ aren't you?"

"Who?" Tori asked, still unused to all the attention and adulation that had been coming her way since stealing the show in the Big Showcase.

"Shelby Marx, the CFC fighter. My friend Sam is a _huge_ fan of yours. Wow, wait 'til I tell her that I met you here… wait, _why_ are you at our school? Are you leading a Stage Fighting class this semester or something?" he asked as his excitement gave way to bewilderment at a professional fighter coming to a Performing Arts High School.

"Uh, I'm not Shelby Marx; I'm Tori Vega," she replied, equally confused.

"Trina's sister?"

"Yeah, you've met her?" The brunette's tone was sympathetic.

"No, I just know her by reputation. I'm Freddie," he offered his hand and she shook it.

"Oh, the one who was _supposed_ to be working on the showcase with my sister?"

"Uh yeah," he confirmed.

"Man was she wazzed off when you didn't show that night," the brunette commented.

"I went back to Seattle to see my friend; she got knocked down by a truck," he defended himself tersely.

"Hey, just an observation," Tori raised her hands in surrender. "So was your friend ok?" her voice was altogether more timid as she asked this.

"Yeah, Carly's fine, though I think it will be a while before she'll be able to do her next web show."

"Carly? As in _iCarly_? You know her?" Tori put a few pieces of the puzzle together.

"Oh," he chuckled softly, "yeah, that was her. I used to live across the hallway from her and," he lowered his voice a touch hoping that his next words would impress the attractive girl he was chatting to, "I actually used to produce the show."

She stared at him for a moment as the cogs in her brain processed his words. "You're _that_ Freddie? The one who yanked their pony-tails when they had their fight?"

"Yes, that was me, you remember that?" he smiled at the memory before catching her staring at him again, frowning.

"I'm sorry, I just have difficulty reconciling that little boy with…" she gestured to him, particularly his muscular arms, which she poked gently; they were the result of regular gym sessions with André over the past year or so.

He grinned at her reaction. "Yes, I've grown a little bit since I left Seattle." _In more ways than one_, he thought a little ruefully as he reflected on his talks with Spencer the previous week. He glanced around at the now empty corridor. "Anyway, where do you need to get to?"

"Uh," she consulted her timetable again with her free hand; the other was still resting on his bicep, "Mr Sikowitz's class."

"Oh, I'm in that lesson now too, it's this way." He pointed down the hall and the brunette walked alongside him, smiling in relief that she had found a friendly, and rather handsome she grinned to herself, face so quickly. "So is Cat actually," he noted as he thought on the fact with a little shrug.

"I never got far enough to ask her," the girl admitted as they walked to the eccentric teacher's classroom together.

Freddie went to take his usual seat but Tori stopped just inside the room; she looked around, taking in the sight of her very first Hollywood Arts classroom (she was intrigued by the bewildering statement on the whiteboard – _Improv is like a fine cheese, but not really_) before dropping her bag on the floor next to the chair beside the one housing the Seattle-born teen. Unfortunately she didn't see that Beck, holding a cup of coffee, was stood almost directly behind her and collided with him as she turned, spilling the drink over his shirt.

"Oh my gosh," she apologised. Freddie turned in his seat to watch the spectacle; he also noted with mild surprise that Cat had not yet arrived in the class, despite talking to Tori before he had.

"It's cool," the long-haired teen assured her.

"No, I spilled coffee on you; here," and she attempted to wipe it off him. "I think it's coming out."

"Seriously, it's ok," he told her.

"Try not to move," she countered.

"You're sweet but…"

"I think it's almost out,"

"I think you're making it worse," Freddie commented as he surveyed the scene with growing amusement.

The classroom door opened to reveal Jade, a Jade who swiftly became annoyed with the sight that greeted her.

"Dude," she snapped, "why are you rubbing my boyfriend?"

"Oh, I just, I spilled coffee on…" Tori began.

"Get away from him," the gothic girl demanded.

"Relax, all right?" Beck tried to placate her with a peck on the cheek; she continued to glare at the new student.

Sikowitz entered the room, declaring that there was a huge fire in the school; he then settled the class again by explaining that he was just trying to get them warmed up for the lesson. Tori was surprised by the identity of the balding teacher; she had assumed he was homeless when she saw him earlier and actually handed him a couple of bucks. He thanked her for the gift as he introduced her.

"Now today," the eccentric began, "we're going to continue our study in group improv. Tori, I assume you're familiar with improv?"

"Uh, well, yes and no," she equivocated.

"What does that mean?" he sought to establish.

"No," she admitted.

"Ok. Crash course. Improv. Acting without a script. Which means the actors must make up their own actions and dialogue as they perform the scene, understood?"

Tori still looked uncertain but their teacher pressed on anyway.

"Excellent. Jade, you will captain the first group of the day. Choose your actors."

The mean girl stepped up to the stage and began to choose from her classmates. "Cat, Eli, Beck… and Tori." Nobody was more surprised than the brunette that she was nominated; Freddie gave her a gentle nudge to encourage her to join the kids on the raised platform.

"Ok, let's give them a place," Sikowitz called for suggestions.

"Home," Robbie called.

"And now we need a situation."

"Big news," André proposed, having to convince his teacher that he didn't mean big nudes – something the balding man thought was altogether less palatable.

"Why don't you go wait in the hall?" Jade suggested to the new student.

"Uh ok," she agreed and departed the room.

Sikowitz called action, Eli and Cat knelt down pretending to be younger children while Jade greeted her on-stage husband.

"Hey, babe, how was work today?" she asked him.

"Uh, not good, I got fired," he lamented.

"Oh," she threw her hands up in the air.

"Again?" Eli moaned.

"Our daddy's a loser," Cat wailed as the sandy blond she briefly dated nodded by her side.

"It's ok," Jade assured them. "I have great news that'll cheer up this whole family."

"What is it? Tell us?" her 'children' urged.

"I went to the animal shelter," she continued as she headed for the door to bring Tori in, "and got us a dog."

"Uh yep," Tori laughed. "I'm the new family dog. Woof."

In response to Jade's complaint, and Sikowitz's agreement, she had to "be a dog" by getting on all fours and not talking (other than saying "woof").

Eli and Cat began petting her while Beck upset his 'wife' by asking if the dog could sleep in their room; Jade told him she could not.

"Uh oh, looks like this dog has bugs in her fur," the gothic girl noted; the 'kids' recoiled in horror.

"Uh, woof?" Tori asked.

"Oh it's ok," Jade assured the pair. "I read on the internet that coffee works great for getting rid of fur bugs," and, despite Beck and Freddie urging restraint, she proceeded to dump a cup of the stuff over her classmate.

"What's the prob, dog?" she asked with a cold smirk; Tori stormed out of the room seemingly on the brink of tears.

"I'll go get her back," André said and chased after the brunette.

"Was that _really_ necessary?" Freddie asked as he rose from his seat and joined her on the stage.

"Yes it was," she replied smugly; the boy shook his head a little in disapproval.

"Robbie, can you go and bring them back in here?" Sikowitz asked the curly-haired ventriloquist, seeing that the songsmith had so far failed to retrieve the newcomer. He nodded and, along of course with Rex, left the room.

"Oh what," Jade snapped, seeing that her boyfriend looked rather annoyed with her, while Freddie worked hard to keep a frown off his face.

"You dumped _coffee_ all over her," the fluffy-haired Canadian pointed out.

"She was rubbing you and smiling," the blue-streak haired girl reminded him.

"She _spilt coffee_ on me by accident when I walked behind her and she turned around."

"Oh that's convenient, she was still grinning like an idiot at you."

"I really want everyone back in here so we can get on with the lesson," the teacher interrupted, seeing that neither Robbie nor the others had come back.

"I'll go get them," Cat said and, before anyone could stop her, the still-frizzy-haired girl bounded out of the room in pursuit of her classmates.

"So you _really_ don't trust me?" Beck fired at his girlfriend, interpreting her reasons for doing what she did. "It's ok for you and him," he shot a quick look at Freddie, who was still stood next to his girlfriend, "to be in plays together, kissing on stage and spending God knows how long in the Janitor's closet together but you don't trust me around any other girl?"

"I trust _you_," she countered, unwilling to make her discussions with Freddie – or their friendship in general – the subject of the conversation, "but when all these girls constantly want a piece of you it just… makes me worry," she admitted.

"Well you don't need to," he snapped before leaving the stage and taking his seat again with a glare in her direction. Freddie shook his head in growing despair at the growing issues between his friend and her man.

Cat, meanwhile, had come across Robbie, Tori and André in the main hallway of the school; they were stood at the bottom of the stairs by the bulk of the students' lockers.

"You guys, Sikowitz really wants everybody back in class," she told them.

"And you really wanted a date to the Prom last year, but you didn't get one did you?" Rex quipped.

"Well what's that supposed to mean?" she asked the puppet, almost in tears at the jibe and reminder of her lonely Saturday night while Freddie and Lindsey were at the Northridge Prom the previous Spring. "Tell your puppet to quit being mean to me!" she ordered Robbie.

"Don't call him a puppet; that's an offensive term!" Robbie complained.

"Yeah, this school's pretty normal," Tori told André sarcastically; he had recently told her that the school was actually fairly typical, something she did not believe for a second. The dreadlocked musician urged the other two to go back to class and tell Sikowitz they would be back soon.

"You'd better hurry," Cat told them before heading off. She paused mid-way down the corridor as a thought occurred to her and doubled back as she overheard the tail end of her classmates' conversation.

"Normal's boring," the songsmith told the singer before leaving.

"It's true," Cat lamented to the brunette.

"That normal's boring?"

"No, that no one asked me to the Prom!" she wailed before returning to the lesson.

_The Slap Mobile_

_Tori Vega: Worst Day Ever. GOING HOME. _

_Mood = Wrecked._

_Vega Residence_

Freddie had seen his new schoolmate's status update and was concerned; he jumped into his car after work and made the short journey over to the Vegas' home, knocking on the door just after Tori changed her status again:

_Tori Vega is feeling… conflicted._

_Mood = Lost_.

He knocked on the door and the brunette answered.

"Hey," he greeted her softly.

"Oh hey Freddie, come in," she invited him.

"Thanks." She gestured towards the couches in the living room and he sat on one, turning to face her as she sat at the near end of the other, so in fact their knees were almost touching. He laced his fingers and rested his hands between his knees with his wrists and forearms on his legs. "I came to see how you were after," he shrugged a little and separated his hands, his palms facing up towards the ceiling for a moment, "everything in class. You never came back after what happened." He returned his hands to their previous position and eyed her softly as he waited for her reply.

"You need to ask?" she snapped. "Sorry," she back-tracked immediately, "I just don't get why she did that to me. First she makes me play a dog then she dumps her drink all over me; it took me _ages_ to wash it out of my hair when I got home."

The former iCarly tech producer nodded sympathetically. "Jade is…" he began before hesitating. "She's been a really great friend to me and she has a really good heart but…" he pulled a face as he paused again; Tori watched intently, waiting with baited breath for him to continue, "a few weeks ago Beck got cast in a play that André wrote; he didn't pick Jade for the female lead and the girl he _did_ pick was rather flirtatious towards him. She's tough, she's _awesome_ but deep down I think she fears losing her guy to someone else, so she'll try to fight off the competition," he explained.

Tori nodded uncertainly. "She saw me as competition on day one?"

"I think so; I think she'd see _any_ girl she doesn't know – and _trust_ – as competition if they were being friendly to Beck. He'll reciprocate because that's who he is, a nice guy, but he either loves the attention or he's blind to how much it bothers Jade. So why are you uh…" he pulled his phone from his pocket and glanced at Tori's update again, "conflicted and… lost?"

"Because I don't know whether I'm coming back or not tomorrow," she admitted; he raised his eyebrows in surprise.

"You're seriously thinking about quitting after one day?"

"If going to this school gets me a cup of coffee in my hair every day then _yes_," she insisted.

"From what the guys said yesterday that would be a mistake," he observed. She gave him a curious look so he continued. "I wasn't at the showcase but the others were and they told me how great and how talented you are. I really want to see that for myself and it would be a crime for you to let that much talent go to waste. One day you'd regret it."

The brunette smiled at him. "I'll give it some thought," she conceded.

It was enough to placate her guest. "I'll see you tomorrow," he smiled at her as he stood and made to leave.

"You want a drink before you go?" she offered. With no other plans for the evening he accepted.

_Beck's RV, Oliver Residence_.

An urgent, almost desperate knocking on the door to his trailer encouraged Beck to hurry to answer it; he was surprised when a dark brunette with blue streaks in her hair swept past him and went inside.

"Jade? What are you doing here?" he asked in confusion, knowing of course that she was supposed to still be grounded.

"I don't have long; I snuck out and need to be back before mom notices," his girlfriend began. Beck nodded as she turned to face him, stood a few paces away. "I just want to know what went on earlier, why you were letting her put her hands all over you like that."

"Oh my God," Beck pinched his nose and sighed in frustration, "I told you, she _accidentally_ spilt coffee on me and was trying to clean it up. _Nothing_ was going on there – and you _didn't_ have to react the way that you did."

"How can I not worry when you let all the girls flirt with you like that?" she countered.

"Do you trust me? Yes or no," he fired. "If you don't then let's forget it. If you do then accept that I'm not going to go looking for another girl; I already have a girlfriend." He gave her a peck on the cheek as he concluded his sentence. "You'd better go," he whispered, "or your mom will freak and you'll be grounded until college."

"Yeah, I'll see you tomorrow," she agreed and disappeared into the California night.

_Sikowitz's Classroom, Hollywood Arts High School_

_Tuesday, 9__th__ February 2010_.

Sikowitz elected to enter the classroom via the window; it wasn't the first time he had done it but it still bewildered the group.

"Why did you crawl in through the window?" Eli asked.

"Because being a good performer is about making interesting choices," he explained.

"That explains his pants," Jade snarled to the merriment of the others.

Tori surprised the group by arriving at that moment, preventing further discussion of the teacher's apparel.

"Tori, you're back," Sikowitz noted. "Ever thought about coming in through the window?"

"No," she was confused.

"Think about it," she was urged before taking a seat; Jade's ire raised as Beck turned to smile at her. "Ok," the balding teacher continued, "today we're going to do some alphabetical improve. What is alphabetical improve you ask, so I answer – it's when we give a letter to the first actor who speaks in the scene. If we use the letter 'A' as an example, then the actor must make his first word start with the letter 'A', which might go something like," he pointed to the class and the Canadian-spoke up excitedly.

"Apples are falling out of my butt," was his suggestion.

"Lovely," his teacher's sarcasm was unmissable. "Now, the next actor who speaks must start his line with the next letter in the alphabet, in this case, 'B'," by now the teacher was stood behind André and placed his hands on the boy's shoulders as he concluded, "so he might say…"

In mild panic André came up with "Bring those apples so that we may all enjoy the fresh fruit from Beck's butt."

"Charming," Sikowitz noted. "Now, who wants to lead the first group?"

"I do," Tori declared, much to her classmates' surprise.

"Alright. Tori, choose your actors."

"Ok," she made her way to the stage. "Freddie, Cat, Beck… and Jade. Yeah you," she shot in response to her nemesis's surprised look.

Jade raised a pierced eyebrow but made her way up to the stage, stopping en route to kiss Beck.

"Ok if you start your line with the wrong letter, ah," Sikowitz imitated a buzzer, "you're out."

"Robbie, give us a letter."

"P," the puppeteer volunteered.

"Ok, the scene could be about anything you want. The first letter of the first line is 'P'. Tori, action."

"Please go take a shower," Tori urged Jade.

"Quit telling me what to do," the gothic girl shot back testily.

"Relax, girls, let's all try and get along," Beck pleaded.

"Totally!" Cat agreed.

"Ah," Sikowitz performed his imitation of a buzzer, "Cat, your line had to start with an 'S'."

"Salami!" the red-headed girl screeched desperately.

"It's too late, Cat," she was informed.

"Oh, my life's the worst!" she lamented.

"Here's a piece of candy," the eccentric teacher brandished the treat.

"Yay, I love candy," the mollified teen sat happily as the new student watched the bizarre sequence with growing incredulity.

"Freddie, letter 'S' to you," the teacher recapitulated.

"Something bit my toe," he complained.

"Turtle, that turtle just bit his toe," Tori added eagerly.

"Unbelievable that you're even here," Jade snarked.

"_Very_ immature of you to say that," her boyfriend chided.

"What about my toe? It could be broken!" Freddie attempted to head off an argument.

"X-rays would be one way of finding out," the lighter brunette commented thoughtfully.

"You should shut up," she was told by the mean girl.

"Zap! I just healed your toe with my magic finger," the Canadian-born supplied.

"Awesome, thanks dude," the former tech producer smiled.

"Brilliant… if a little scary," Tori offered.

"Can you _just_ be quiet?" Jade demanded.

"Darkness, head swimming, can't breathe your earth's atmosphere," Beck complained theatrically before collapsing.

"Easier to walk, now my toe bone's fixed," the ex-Seattleite observed as he wandered around the stage towards his fallen colleague and squatted by his side.

"Freddie, is he ok?" Tori asked nervously.

"Why do you care?" the pale girl snapped without thinking. "Wait," she raised a hand towards Sikowitz but he made his buzzer noise again.

"Sorry Jade, the next letter was…"

"'G' I know," she snapped, throwing a filthy look at her newest classmate as she stormed to the back of the room and retook her seat.

"He's fine; he just fainted," Freddie reassured her.

"I know a cool thing to do now it's just the two of us," Tori grinned as the idea hit her; Jade raised her eyebrows in a blend of curiosity and suspicion.

"Jumping Jacks?" Freddie shuddered involuntarily as he thought back on Miss Ackermann's class at Ridgeway.

"Kiss me," she said simply. Jade's jaw dropped a fraction; Cat didn't look too thrilled either at the suggestion.

"Little weird but sure, why not?" the former iCarly tech producer shrugged; he wasn't going to reject a kiss, even a stage kiss, from such an attractive girl. They leaned in and kissed tenderly for a few seconds as Sikowitz led their classmates, minus Jade and Cat, in applause for the scene (Cat looked crestfallen as she watched them, a look that wasn't lost on her gothic best friend) before both young actors on stage stepped back with identical grins on their faces.

"Man, I love this school," Tori declared happily.

"Not bad is it?" Freddie quipped.

"Ok guys, that's enough," Sikowitz called before pausing. "Hey I just joined in," he commented.

* * *

**AN: And breathe! Thanks for reading; I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Please drop a review and come back next week for chapter 12 as Tori has to master The Bird Scene. PD.**


	12. Chapter 12: The Bird Scene

**AN: Hello everyone and welcome to this latest chapter of the story; I hope you are all well and have had a good week. As ever thank you very much to everyone who read the last chapter and especially those of you who reviewed it. So…**

**Guest – thank you. Yes, Freddie thought he was over her then she calls and he's back to square one; thankfully talking to Spencer seems to have helped him a little. As for not having seen the last of the blonde? Well she's still going to be at school there for another year and a half so I daresay her path will cross some of the group's again at some stage. Yes, Carly got hurt – an 'iSaved Your Life' semi-tie-in was what I was attempting to pull off with that last chapter. Certainly she misses Freddie but returning his feelings? Perhaps absence really **_**has**_** made the heart grow fonder or maybe she's moved on with her life but misses his friendship – or his affection. Maybe we'll find out in the future. As for her being behind reconciling 'Caddie' – tricky from where she is but not necessarily impossible. You're right about Sam being rather upset with her former best friend. It would be a journey for them to recover; again, who knows what the future may bring for them. Cat and Danny; yes, **_**that**_** Danny, meanwhile the stage kiss… that rather upset **_**two**_** of our girls. You are correct that Cat never really voiced her regret to Freddie. If only life would stay out of their way long enough for them to talk! Finally, yes to both: I DO intend to continue iAm Yours and write some more Creddie independent of it but since the end of the show I really have lacked the motivation to write on that pairing. Hopefully it will return in time.**

**Pbow – I'm pretty sure, from the show, that Beck knows **_**exactly**_** what he's doing; I think he enjoys making Jade jealous and possessive. As for Cat – another obstacle… **_**IF**_** she still wants Freddie now she's met Danny…**

**Challenge King – thank you. Freddie really did need to talk and finally put the whole Lindsey/rape thing behind him and heal so that he could move on. Again, I wanted to work iSYL into the story somehow; I hope it worked.**

**Fanfic-Reader-88 – obviously it wasn't **_**quite**_ **like the canon episode but yes, Carly got hurt but in this one she managed to avoid the worst of the impact. And yes, about Jade, she fears Tori making a play for either Beck **_**or**_** Freddie – so she thinks that she has two reasons to dislike the newcomer.**

**Agent-M – I'm glad you loved it. It didn't **_**exactly**_** coincide on the two shows (iSYL aired around Presidents' Day whereas the Pilot premiered after the 2010 KCAs) but they were close enough that I thought I'd rejig it a little. Yes, Spencer was the best bet; Freddie needed a trusted adult to speak to and Spencer seemed to be the closest thing available to him. Teddie **_**is**_** my OTP and I just love those two together but this **_**is**_** supposed to be a Freddie/Cat story – and let's not forget he and Jade were getting rather cosy a few chapters ago. What a dilemma for him!**

**Guest – As I said above they didn't quite coincide in TV airings but close enough for me to rejig it a bit, especially with the whole butterfly effect and life playing out differently for the iCarly trio.**

**ilovebade – poor Tori. I'll see what I can do with the Bade for you.**

**OneHorseShay - yes a little Creddie friendship and Spencer acting like a grown-up; he was smart enough to graduate college and get into law school so he must have _something_ about him after all. Personally I think Jade has always cared for those who are important to her - particularly Cat but certainly she and Freddie have bonded somewhat as this story has progressed. Me, putting Teddie in a story? Imagine that! I just find it hard to believe that those two wouldn't give one another a second look.**

**That is everyone so let's get on with the tale…**

* * *

Chapter 12: The Bird Scene

_6829 Camrose Drive, Los Angeles_

_Thursday, 11__th__ February 2010_.

Cat lay on her front on her bed; the red-dyed haired girl was flicking through the pages of a magazine while resting her chin on the palm of her left hand as she waited for her hair to dry. Having been caught out in a brief but heavy rain shower the previous day her hair had become a little too limp to hold its current style so she decided to simply wash and comb out the curls that she had had done before Christmas, restoring it to its usual straight-hanging self. She wasn't giving the articles her full attention as she was focussing quite a lot of her thought on the romantic entanglements in life at Hollywood Arts, and particularly her own.

The cupcake-loving teen had been rather put out by the impromptu stage kiss between Tori and Freddie during Tuesday's class and had returned home from school in a pique of annoyance; she sulked through dinner before taking Nona's advice and getting out of the house for a while. Cat had decided that a trip to the mall was in order and was delighted when she came across Danny again; the black-haired boy took little persuasion to buy her another smoothie.

The Sherwood student had managed to pluck up the courage, later on during their talk, to ask her out on a proper date; her thoughts centring on Freddie and Tori meant that she had accepted without hesitation and was looking forward to seeing a movie with him the next night and, if all went well, she was hoping that they might see one another on the Saturday as well (with her parents still in Idaho and Jade still grounded). Much to her grandmother's delight, the fifteen-year-old girl had returned home in much higher spirits than she had left.

_Hollywood Arts High School, Los Angeles, California_

_Friday, 12__th__ February 2010_.

Freddie locked his car and was making his way across the parking lot when he spotted two girls getting out of another car; he smiled as he recognised them as the Vega sisters (specifically he smiled as he recognised _Tori_) before his smile was replaced by a frown as the younger sister stumbled and fell to the ground under the weight of her books, binders and other materials that she was lugging into school, particularly with Trina wielding nothing but a cup of coffee and leaving her behind, seemingly unaware of the younger girl's plight. He hurried over to his classmate.

"Hey, are you ok?"

"Huh? Oh Freddie, hey. Yeah I just… overbalanced," she tried to brush off the incident, feeling rather embarrassed that the handsome teen had seen her in such an undignified state.

"Let me take them," he seized the bulk of her load and took it from her, allowing her to get back to her feet.

"Thanks," she said gratefully, flashing him a radiant smile, one that he returned, and flipping her hair a little in an attempt to get it back into a presentable state before dusting herself down.

"Tori!" the elder Vega drawled from the school entrance, looking back and seeing her sister a distance away, "come on!"

"I guess that's our cue to go in," Tori commented with a sigh and the two headed over to join the junior girl. "Did you _not_ see me fall down in the parking lot?" she snapped at her sister as the two entered the main building together.

"It was very funny," the elder Vega conceded in a condescending manner. "Oh, hello you," she simpered as she spotted the muscular young man, who she hadn't _really_ met before, by her sister's side.

"I wasn't trying to be…" Tori began indignantly before Trina gasped as she looked behind them.

"The new play roster!" she announced with delight. "Hold my coffee," she plonked the cup down on top of the other things Tori was still holding. "Move!" she instructed the students milling around the noticeboard, ignoring their complaints as she picked up a list of the forthcoming productions.

"Oh," she laughed. "These are so good!"

"What's so good?" Freddie asked.

"The list of plays for the new semester," the deluded diva explained. "Oh my God, I am perfect for all of these!"

"Is _Moonlight Magic_ on there?" Tori asked.

"Oh right, that's the one André's written the music for," Freddie remembered.

"Yeah, and he wants me to try out for the lead," Tori smiled at the prospect.

"You?" Trina laughed scathingly. "Why?"

"Take your coffee and go," Tori told her threateningly.

"Oh, somebody fell down on the wrong side of the parking lot," the older sister mocked, ruffling her hair as she departed.

"So, that's Trina," Freddie observed as they made their way towards Tori's undecorated locker.

"Yeah, my sister. Lucky me," the sarcasm was unmissable in her tone.

"Oh, hey Jade," Freddie greeted the darker brunette as she passed them heading the other way.

"Freddie," she completely ignored the brown-haired girl at his side. "I'll see you in class in a few minutes," she called over her shoulder.

"I don't think she likes me," Tori understated.

"She'll come around in time," he tried to assure her, flashing his boyish grin at her; she opened her locker and they began loading the items in. "You know, you should probably put a shelf or two in here. Anyway, here we go; you're all set," the tech genius commented as they finished the task.

"Thanks. Alright, my locker is filled. I feel complete."

"Not yet; you need to customise it first," he told her. Everyone does, it's like a tradition here," his eyes shone a little at the concept.

"Oh well, what did you do for yours?" she asked him.

"Here," he took her hand gently, unthinkingly and led her to his locker, showing the laptop lid design of the locker door. "So it's like opening my pear top every time I go to my locker," he grinned. "Oh, hey guys," he smiled as he spotted André and Robbie by the musician's locker; he dropped the girl's hand quickly as the pair eyed them curiously. Tori had to work hard to suppress a look of disappointment as the innocent contact ended, particularly so abruptly.

They returned his greeting and were just starting to make their way over to join the pair when Lane called out to them. "Hey André, Robbie; that squirrel's back in my office again."

"I'll get the net," the songsmith sighed in resignation.

"I'll get the nuts," the ventriloquist added and the two departed leaving a very confused brunette staring after them.

"Weird chizz happens here," Freddie shrugged by way of explanation. "Oh, I'll see you later," he noted as the bell rang and they made their ways separately to class.

"Bye," she called happily, smiling at his retreating back.

_Sikowitz's Classroom_

Cat and Jade were on stage performing a scene in front of their classmates; it was part of a class production that would be taking place the following week.

"Betsy! Betsy!" Jade put on an exaggerated Southern-state accent as she spoke to Cat, who bore a large, stuffed pig; it was almost as big as the little red-head herself. "That animal's delicious flesh can keep us all alive for another week!" she protested.

"I don't want to be alive without Poncy," Cat retorted in a similar accent. "This pig is everything to me that my daddy never was, and I'll…" she paused as mentioning her daddy brought to mind her parents' continued absence, an absence that would end very soon; in fact they were expecting to be home the next day. Her smile at that thought faded almost instantly as her teacher hurled a ball at her head from across the room; it hit her, sending her to the floor.

"Sikowitz!" the pink-streak haired girl complained.

"What the hell did you do that for?" demanded Freddie as he leapt from his seat; after snapping at the teacher he rushed onto the stage to help the girl up.

"Oh come on," he defended himself. "A truly great actor can stay in the scene no matter what's happening around her."

"He's a whack job," Freddie muttered in Cat's ear; she forgot the pain of the impact for a moment as she giggled at his description while he helped her get to her feet again.

"But it really hurt," she complained aloud at her teacher before the bell rang. "Ooh, lunch, yay!" she cried happily, leaving Freddie behind when she skipped from the stage, collecting her bag and leaving the room before anyone else could move. He and Jade traded a glance and a shrug before heading back to their places to pick up their things.

"Learn your lines; I want everyone off book tomorrow," Sikowitz called after them.

"Tomorrow's Saturday," Tori noted as she caught up with Freddie.

"True; I'm not sure he ever knows what day it is though," the boy observed quietly. "You want to come to lunch with us?"

"Sure, just let me… argh!" she cried as a ball hit the wall beside her, knocking a picture off it. She turned and snapped at Sikowitz, "What was that for? I'm not acting right now!"

"We need to chat," he told her.

"And 'Tori can I have a word?' doesn't work for you?" the tech producer snapped. The teacher just folded his arms and glared at the teen. "See you at lunch in a few minutes," he told her, tapping her upper arm encouragingly as he left.

"What's up?" Tori asked, approaching the stage, on which Sikowitz was stood.

"I hear you signed up to audition for a play, _Moonlight Magic_."

"Yes, André wrote the music for it and he wants me to play the lead," she explained.

"You should," the acting teacher encouraged, drawing a brief smile from the girl before… "but you can't," he then shot her down.

"Huh?" Tori asked.

"Not until you pass _The Bird Scene_. Every student here must successfully complete it before they can audition for any and all school productions." He handed her the script for the scene and she left for lunch, passing Cat on the way out; she gave the redhead a surprised glance at seeing her return and was a little perturbed when the shorter girl, usually so bright and bubbly, passed her without speaking at all.

"Uh, are you ok, Cat?" she posed the question.

"Oh yeah, I just forgot to ask a question about the homework," the red velvet-haired girl explained, sparing Tori a quick glance in response to her inquiry before re-entering the classroom. "Hey Sikowitz, about the homework will we…" she stopped and squealed as another ball was thrown in her direction; she then fled the room.

_Asphalt Café._

André took a seat at the gang's usual table; Freddie, Beck and Robbie were already there, though none of the girls had yet joined them.

"You know where I could buy a pair of ballet slippers?" the dreadlocked teen asked the table. Freddie suppressed a wince at the question; fortunately Beck distracted the attention of the others by speaking up sarcastically,

"No I don't but I know where you can get yourself a pretty skirt and some lip gloss."

"_Please_ tell me you get those for Jade," the Seattle-born teen joked, earning an appreciative chuckle from the other two boys and a mild glare from his Canadian friend.

Rex 'laughed'. "That was a good one Freddie," he noted.

"Why do you need ballet slippers," Beck asked his friend.

"'Cause I signed up for ballet," André replied as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Isn't that kind of girly?" Robbie asked. Freddie became very interested in his bag in order to hide the look and flush growing on his face at the conversation.

"Yep, just one big room full of girls – and me," the songsmith noted smugly. "You guys picking up what I'm putting down?"

Beck and Rex nodded along; Robbie looked confused until Beck explained the idea of him being the sole guy surrounded by girls who dance. Robbie suddenly had the urge to sign up himself.

"How about you man?" Beck was asked.

"I can't. Jade and I signed up for salsa dancing already," he explained.

"What about you Freddie?"

"I don't have to," the _Slap_ co-creator replied, cracking a smile. "I got back credit for dance because of some classes that mom made me take when I was younger so I can take some different classes in those slots. Score one for the crazy mom," he muttered. "I think Cat's decided to go for tap dancing," he commented thoughtfully, "I haven't heard of anyone else who's signed up for ballet."

"Well I'm sure there'll be _plenty_ of girls," André stated confidently.

_6829 Camrose Drive, Los Angeles_

_Saturday, 13__th__ February 2010_.

Cat curled up as she lay on one of the couches in her Nona's house as the pair watched TV. The two had talked earlier in the day as the girl was eager to share the details of her date the previous night, describing Danny as a nice guy who had been kind and courteous throughout the evening; she had enjoyed dinner, the movie, and his company, so much so that they had prolonged the date by having a second bite to eat afterwards before finishing off with a couple of rounds of smoothies before he walked her home. The red velvet haired girl's grandmother was happy for her, and not displeased by the news that Cat would be seeing him again this evening as well; in the meantime grandmother and granddaughter were content to spend a quiet afternoon in one another's company.

Eventually, though, the older lady reminded her, it was time the teenager to get ready for her date. Cat bounced to her room to begin planning her outfit; she opted for her cute pink top with medium blue jeans and shin-length boots before taking a quick shower and getting dressed and picking up e small purse with a shoulder-strap, which she looped over her head so that it hung from the left-hand side of her neck but the purse itself nestled next to her right side.

"I'm going now; I won't be too late. Bye Nona," she called from the doorway to the living room before heading for the front door.

"Bye cupcake, have a nice time," her grandmother called, smiling at the girl's happiness.

_Hollywood Plaza, 2011 North Highland Avenue, Los Angeles, California_

The teenager arrived and took a cursory glance around the Food Court; it was where they had agreed to meet to begin the evening. As she was unable to see him she simply opted to buy herself a smoothie and wait at a table for his arrival.

The black-haired boy smiled as she spotted the vivid red hair of the girl he liked. He walked over to the table and stood behind her, unseen and undetected due to the general hubbub of the area (coupled with the girl's ability to focus so much on her drink) and casually stood behind her left shoulder, reaching out to tap her right with his right hand. She looked around, confused as she didn't see anyone stood there before looking to her left and looking up to his grinning face.

"Daniel!" she squealed, standing and flinging her arms around the boy; thankfully her ninety-pound frame meant that she barely rocked him back, let alone knocking him off his feet as he returned the hug.

"Hey Cat, did you miss me?" he asked teasingly and with humour in his tone.

"I did," she admitted, "I was really looking forward to seeing you again."

He waited for her to pick up her smoothie before taking her hand and leading her, to her surprise, to one of the mall's diners; he wanted to treat the girl to something a little more upmarket than the Food Court this time. They shared some wings before he ordered ribs and fries, Cat opted for chicken and salad, though they did sample a little of each other's.

"So where now," she asked curiously as Danny took her hand again after they left and led her, to her confusion, away from the mall's movie theatre; in fact he seemed to be heading for the exit.

"Oh, one of my friends' parents are away so he's having a little party and I thought we'd go and hang there for a while – if that's ok with you? If not we can see a movie or something."

"Uh sure, a party sounds cool," she agreed, smiling at the slightly different way to spend a Saturday evening and let him steer her to his car, in which he covered the short distance to his friend's home.

The party was starting to warm up as the teenagers arrived; Danny introduced the girl to his friends, all of whom made her welcome.

She had a good time, mostly staying close to her date, though she did talk to some of the others, particularly the girls, throughout the evening, continually declining offers of both beer and weed whenever they were being passed around (as, she noted with slight surprise, did Danny; he would later explain that he wasn't interested in using them, though if he was being _truly_ honest he may have added that it would be something else to worry about if the cops pulled them over at any point). Finally, after a few hours, she received a text from her Nona, asking when she would be back, which she interpreted as a suggestion that it was time to come home. Her date agreed to take her home (intending to return afterwards) and drove her back home, getting out of the car when she did and walking her to the door.

"Thanks Danny," she told him coyly, "I had a really good time tonight."

"Me too," he confirmed, before leaning in and planting a quick kiss on her lips. He pulled away and cast a nervous look towards her, fearing that he'd overstepped the mark doing so on only their second _real_ date. He was relieved to see that she was smiling broadly at him and gently took his left hand in her two.

"Goodnight," she whispered, giving him one last smile before releasing his hand and heading inside.

_Sikowitz's classroom._

_Monday, 15__th__ February 2010_.

The insane teacher warmed the class up with a quick 'drive-by acting exercise', in which he gave one scenario to the whole class and they improvised a few lines until Tori arrived in the room.

"Alright, very good, quiet down," he instructed them. "Now that we're all," he began to jig, "loosey and goosey," Freddie threw him a look that mingled disgust and bewilderment at the statement, "the time has come for our newest student to tackle…" he began to stamp rapidly on the stage, encouraging the class to do likewise in their seats to produce a sort of drumroll, "The Bird Scene!" he declared. "Tori, the stage is yours, though you can't take it home," he told her. She looked at him in confusion.

"Um, can I ask you a quick question before I start?" the brunette asked, earning a loud, theatrical groan from the pink streak haired girl in the front row.

"Just do your best," she was encouraged by the balding Sikowitz.

"Ok," she set her script down and began in an accent similar to the one Cat and Jade had used in their scene the previous Friday.

"It was 1934 when my husband left me, alone. Livin' on the prairie was a dreary existence. No telephone, no radio. Only a large, majestic bird with whom I shared my feelings," The new student glanced around the class; to her surprise the room was filled with completely impassive faces. _I thought Freddie might have given me a smile or something,_ she thought in mild annoyance. She was unsurprised that the one student who _did_ express an emotion was Jade; the gothic brunette wore a look of abject boredom.

"One day when I was feeling low I said to him, 'Oh bird, you can fly, you can soar miles from this lonely place, yet you stay; why?' And apparently my question rang true, for that afternoon the bird left– and so went my spirit." She bowed her head sorrowfully and waited for a few seconds, surprised when she did not receive the expected round of applause for her performance.

"How was that?" she asked in her normal voice to the silent room.

"What do you mean?" Sikowitz sought to establish.

"Did I do the scene right?" she persisted.

"Oh no, not at all," he told her.

"Ok, then what did I do wrong?" the confused girl sought to establish.

"You'll have to perform the scene again tomorrow and get it right, or else you cannot be in André's play or any other," he told her simply as handed her the script and steered her to her seat.

"But can you tell me what I did wrong?" she demanded again.

"No I can't," he brushed off as he returned to the front.

"I don't get any feedback?" she was stunned.

"That is correct," he confirmed.

"But…"

"Drive-by acting exercise; you're all terrified dolphins!" he called. The class, minus Tori, began hopping around and squealing like dolphins, though she did notice a slightly regretful look in the former Seattle native's eye as he glanced in her direction between bounces.

* * *

"Oh come on," she urged the sophomore group as they arrived at the lockers. "How am I supposed to do the scene right if no one will tell me what I did wrong?" she demanded. "I thought you guys were my friends." She said pathetically.

"_I'm_ not your friend," Jade smiled at her before taking Beck's hand and leading her boyfriend away from the group and towards the vending machines.

"I was hoping we could be more than friends," Rex piped up; Tori looked disgusted.

"It's so gross how he's always hitting on every girl," Cat observed.

"I never hit on you," the puppet pointed out.

"What's that supposed to mean?" she asked in outrage.

"You guys, my problem?" Tori reminded them.

"Number one rule of the Bird Scene; no one is allowed to help you," Beck explained, drink in hand.

Tori looked to Freddie for support; he sighed as he deliberated on how much he could get away with saying; his annoyance with the balding teacher meant he was in the mood to disclose a little too much…

"What did _you_ think of the scene?" he asked her.

"I thought I did it well, until the end when none of you applauded or gave _any_ sort of reaction," she lamented, frowning at him as if to demand a response.

"So _this_ is what you did with your locker?" Jade interrupted, trying to make sure that nobody inadvertently let anything slip to the new student. She looked at the white, dry-erase board the brunette had attached to the front of it; it simply read "Tori's Locker."

"Yeah, see there's a bunch of colourful pens in a convenient cup so whoever wants to can write or draw whatever they want," she told them brightly.

"You're supposed to decorate it yourself," Beck pointed out.

"It's a Hollywood Arts tradition," added Cat, feeling she could smile at and support the new girl at least a little bit now that she, herself, was dating somebody, though she still wasn't above a little criticism of her now and then.

"Well, what's wrong with letting other people be expressive on my locker?" Tori asked them.

"Uh, for one thing, they can do that," Freddie nodded and pointed in its direction; Jade had just finished adding the word "STUPID" in bright red pen between "Tori's" and "Locker".

She sighed and took the board down. "Come on, someone tell me how to do The Bird Scene or I'm going to cry."

"We can't," Cat informed her and turned to leave for her tap dancing class.

"Yeah, man up!" Robbie complained.

"Time for our first ballet class," André walked past and announced excitedly.

"Ooh, ballet!" the curly-haired ventriloquist cried and left with the dreadlocked songsmith.

Tori leant back on her once again bare locker with a glum expression on her face; just she and the former iCarly remained.

"You thought it was good?" Freddie asked her sympathetically.

"I did… wasn't it?" she asked him eagerly yet with concern and more than a touch of desperation in her voice, gripping his arm and giving him her undivided attention in the hope that he would spill the secrets of the scene.

"It doesn't matter what I think," he shrugged and made for his own next class; he looked over his shoulder at her as he departed and called out, "but for the record, _I_ thought it was great."

She watched him go, feeling more confused than ever.

_Rec Room, Hollywood Arts High School_

_Tuesday, 16__th__ February 2010_.

Freddie and Cat had, independently, arrived early this morning. The tech genius spied his friend, dressed for the cooler weather in a red and blue checked shirt and her dark blue skinny jeans, as he crossed the parking lot and called out to her.

"Hey Cat, how's things?"

"Oh hey Freddie," she smiled. "I'm good thanks. Here early, that's buses for you," she giggled; he nodded and smiled.

"Do you want to hit the rec room before class?" he'd offered; she agreed excitedly and they spent a pleasant quarter-of-an-hour playing ping pong together before the bell sounded for their first class.

"What do you think of Tori?" she asked curiously as they walked towards the lockers.

"She seems nice," he shrugged." Certainly moreso than her sister," he thought back on the previous week when he had encountered the elder Vega.

"I guess," Cat agreed weakly.

"You don't like her?" Freddie was surprised as it was almost unheard of for the bubbly girl to _not _like somebody.

"No, she seems fine," the red-head agreed.

"You're not bothered about that stage kiss are you?" he asked shrewdly.

"Of course not," she laughed it off in her inimitable way. "Oh look, Jade's here. Hi," she called to her gothic friend, smoothly, if abruptly, curtailing the conversation between the two of them.

_The Slap Mobile_

_Tori Vega: So ready for The Bird Scene this time. Gonna KILL IT._

_Mood = Determined_.

_Sikowitz's classroom._

The kids had another morning class with the balding acting coach; Tori would again be performing the scene for them and hoped that she would be able to pass it this time. She still felt annoyed and upset that none of her new friends had been willing to help her out with it – and was more bothered by Freddie than any of the others; he had liked it but not applauded, was he trying to give an abstract hint? What was going on?

"So, are you ready?" the tech producer asked as he entered the room; the other students were milling around waiting for the teacher's arrival.

"Oh, I'm _way_ past ready," she declared as Robbie, Beck and Jade gathered around the pair. "Sikowitz wants The Bird Scene; I'm going to _give_ him The Bird Scene. I've got props, a backdrop and just to kiss up a little I even got Sikowitz…" she reached into her bag, "two large coconuts."

"Those are good ones," Beck observed; due to where the brunette was holding them he drew an annoyed look from his girlfriend.

Freddie shook his head and took a seat near the back next to Cat. "None of that _matters_," he muttered under his breath; Tori didn't hear him.

The bell rang and Sikowitz entered the room through the door by the stage.

"Alright," he began before stumbling; he looked around trying to discover what he fell over while his charges just looked bemused. "We have much to do today, but first… Tori, The Bird Scene."

"I'm ready and, before I begin, I'd like you to have these two large coconuts," she handed the bribe to the balding man.

"Wonderful," he said appreciatively. "You know, their milk gives me visions."

"I've heard," she replied.

"Ok, Tori," he gestured.

She mounted the stage and unveiled the backdrop she had suspended, rolled up, above the dry-erase board at the front. The brunette then slipped a pair of glasses on from a chain around her neck. "And, I am ready," she announced before repeating the scene to his call of "Delightful, action".

This time, upon reaching the line about the 'large, majestic bird' she wound a small crank, lowering a stuffed bird into view. When she complained that the bird left me, she flung it through the window. Jade sighed in response, though next to her Beck smiled appreciatively.

"So, was that good?" she asked them.

"Exactly what are you asking me?" Sikowitz sought to clarify.

"You know, did you like what I did with the scene?"

"Sure."

"So did I get it right?"

"Oh no, you failed – again."

Out of the corner of her eye she saw Freddie wince slightly. _Tell me what I'm doing wrong!_ she attempted to will the boy telepathically. Unfortunately, she failed at _that_ too.

"Hey, watch where you throw your props," the janitor complained through the window, throwing the bird back into the room; she had to duck to evade it.

* * *

Cat had just stopped off at her locker and was on her way to lunch; the girl was hungry and so quickly ascended the main staircase, stopping only to send a quick text to Jade before heading to meet her at the Grub Truck.

"Cat!" Tori called, approaching from the left hand staircase.

"Hey," the child-like teen smiled, lapsing back into her friendly nature and hoping to get on with the new girl, particularly as she was becoming a fixture in their group.

"You _have_ to try something," Tori delved into her bag.

"Handcuffs?" the little red-head was even more confused than normal.

"Uh huh, put them on one wrist," the brunette urged.

"Ok," she smiled happily at the new game they were playing.

"Good, and now we lock the other part around here," the taller girl attached them to the handrail.

"Fun," the cupcake loving girl observed naively.

"Ok, now try these."

"Ooh, candy!" she gasped, holding out her right palm; Tori tipped some of the treats into it.

Cat eagerly swallowed them. "Mmm, these are so…" the aftertaste kicked in, "so _hot_!" she wailed before spitting them out. "What are these?"

"Choo-choo peppers," Tori grinned malevolently.

"Aah! They're burning my mouth!"

"I know, want some water?" the brunette asked innocently, holding a bottle out of the girl's reach.

"Yes!" cried Cat, reaching desperately for the bottle.

"Tell me the secret of The Bird Scene," Tori demanded.

"I can't and I need water," Cat was almost in tears.

"Oh fine," Tori relented, incapable of being an evil mastermind. She handed the captive girl the bottle she was brandishing and trudged dejectedly down the stairs to her locker (now 'decorated' with a single pink, horizontal stripe just above the lock).

"Wait, Tori," Cat, still handcuffed to the handrail, called after her before thirst became imperative again for her. "Water!" she gasped and took another swig.

Freddie walked up behind the miserable brunette as she took her frustration out on her things.

"What are you doing?" he asked playfully, flashing his boyish grin.

"Angrily throwing books in my locker," she explained, "can't you tell?" She slammed the locker shut.

"Have you decided on how to decorate it yet?"

"Yes. Look, I put a stripe on it. See the stripe?"

"I see the stripe," he smiled, folding his arms and leaning against the neighbouring lockers.

"Well I don't know what to do," she complained.

"It'll come to you in a moment of inspiration," he assured her.

"So, anyway," she continued casually, "about The Bird Scene…"

He sighed. "Again, I thought your scene was good – but what I think doesn't matter. Later," he smiled and left. Luckily for Cat he chanced a glance up the stairs and spotted her still cuffed to the railing. He sighed and shook his head, wondering how on earth the girl had found herself in the predicament and made his way over to her.

"Oh, thank God, Freddie, can you help me out here?" she pleaded.

"I think so," he flashed her a smile and took a paperclip from his jacket pocket. "Time to put what I learnt from Sam to good use," he muttered as he knelt by her, straightened the wire and gently took her hand to hold the wrist steady. He jiggled the wire for a few seconds before…

"Yay, I'm free!" The girl flung herself on him in a grateful hug before letting him go. "I'm hungry – and I still need water," she commented before swiftly heading off for lunch on her own.

"Bye," he called after her with a wave.

"How did you get her out of those?" Tori demanded as she suddenly saw that her captive had gone and that the boy held one end of the cuffs in his hand. "They're _police issue_; I 'borrowed' them from my dad."

"I know a girl," he told her cockily before frowning as he quickly put two and two together. "You coming to lunch? I think you owe someone an apology," he concluded with a searching look.

"You're right," she conceded with a groan and followed him to their regular table in the Asphalt Café.

* * *

_The Slap Mobile_

_Tori Vega: Just thought of a way to find out WHAT'S UP with The Bird Scene…_

_Mood = Sneaky_

Cat had happily accepted the new student's apology, though Jade had narrowed her eyes menacingly on learning the story.

"It's between them, leave it," Beck told his girlfriend; she didn't look in a mood to agree with him but let it slide for the time being, leading to a peaceful lunch for the tenth graders.

"Hey Freddie," Tori greeted him brightly as she cornered the boy by his locker later in the day.

"Hey," he returned with a smile. "It's good to see you in a better mood."

"So I was just wondering: how did you get out of dance class?" she demanded. "All the others are doing it."

"Oh, my mom made me take some classes," he left it intentionally vague, "when I was younger; I think… I _know_," he amended, "that she wishes I'd been born a girl," he frowned at the thought and the fact that he was admitting to himself, "but it means that I can do some extra music classes in the time. I have a natural aptitude for Spanish too so I did extra singing instead of those classes last year," he elaborated. "But enough of my life story, how are you?"

"I'm feeling a little stressed," she admitted sadly, hoping to play on his sympathies.

"Come on, talk to Freddie," he smiled.

"Thanks," she flipped her hair off her shoulders and gave him her best puppy dog look as she continued, "It's this whole Bird Scene thing."

Freddie palmed his forehead. "Tori, I really have told you all that I can about it." Then he placed his hands gently on her shoulders, encouraging her to meet his eyes. "Once again, I'll tell you that _I_ thought you did great today, but it's not my opinion that counts." He gave her a meaningful look; she countered with a confused one.

_Wednesday, 17__th__ February 2010_.

_The Slap Mobile_

_Tori Vega: Ahhh! About to try The Bird Scene AGAIN – WISH ME LUCK!_

_Mood = Fierce_

_Sikowitz's classroom._

André and Robbie hobbled into class, complaining about the pain of every step; the light blue streak haired girl gave them a curious look as she wondered exactly what they had done during their morning classes to get into such a situation.

She didn't have long to dwell on it, however, as Sikowitz followed them into the room. "Happy birthday!" he declared cheerily.

"Whose birthday is it?" Cat asked excitedly.

"Somebody's, somewhere."

"That's so true," she gasped as she realised the veracity of the statement.

"Where's Tori?" he asked, seemingly oblivious to the fact that someone had curtained off the stage. The newcomer stuck her head through the gap in the curtains.

"Right here," she told him.

"Oh," he laughed as he jumped off the stage in surprise. "You brought curtains."

"Let's do this," she replied determinedly.

"Very good. Ladies and gentlemen, once again, The Bird Scene starring Tori…" he paused as he reached the back of the room.

"Vega," she supplied.

"Vega," he repeated.

Tori opened the curtains; the backdrop was still in place and she had downloaded an instrumental soundtrack to accompany the scene.

She performed it again, this time dressed in period grab and summoning a cockatoo to fly in and out when she reached the appropriate remarks about the bird. Sikowitz was impressed, though he asked Beck to confirm that he too could see it.

"That… was impressive," the teacher conceded at the end.

"So did I get it right?" she asked excitedly; out of the corner of her eye she again spotted Freddie's wince. _What's wrong with the question_, she wondered.

"Nope," he returned; Jade smirked happily at the girl's continued woes.

"But… but I just…" Tori stammered before finding her confidence. "I did _too_ get it right," she insisted.

"Tori, listen…" Sikowitz began before she cut him off.

"I'm not trying to be disrespectful, but do you know how hard I worked on this scene? I made this costume, I downloaded special prairie music. I even trained that crazy cockatoo to fly in and out of that window on command! Not now," she snapped as it flew in; it took off again. "Look, I know you're a great acting teacher and everything, but I don't care what you say. The scene I just did was good. And I'm proud of it no matter what anybody thinks."

She was shocked when the class, led by Freddie, began to applaud; even Jade joined in.

"What?" she asked in total bewilderment.

"You just passed The Bird Scene," Sikowitz declared before explaining the scene's purpose; to teach an actor to ignore the approval of others and to believe in their own choices.

"So that's why you said you liked it but it didn't matter what you thought?" she muttered to Freddie as she sidled over to his side.

"Yep, it only mattered what _you_ thought," he smiled at her.

"I wish you'd told me that," she grumbled.

"I'm sure you do," he smirked back.

"Drive-by acting exercise, you're all elderly people walking barefoot on broken glass. Action."

Freddie offered Tori his arm, she took it and they began shuffling painfully across the room together; Jade threw them a glance filled with displeasure though neither of them noticed. The mean girl was surprised that Cat actually offered the duo a slight smile when she spotted them.

_The Slap Mobile_

_Tori Vega: FINALLY… I… am… VICTORIOUS!_

_Mood = Pumped._

Tori stood in front of her open locker; Cat, Freddie, Beck, Jade and Trina stood on the other side of its open door from her; she was hiding her decoration from them for the time being.

"You guys ready?" the smiling brunette asked.

"Hurry!" Cat urged.

"Uh-huh," the elder sister confirmed.

The younger Vega closed the locker revealing a cityscape backdrop with the words "Make It Shine" written over the bottom of it.

"Make what shine?" Trina asked her sister in confusion.

"It's the song I sang in the Big Showcase," Tori reminded her.

"Oh." "Ok," "Right," her fellow students nodded their recollection.

"Whatever," Jade repeated.

"'Cause, you know, that's what got me here in the first place."

"I don't like it," Jade commented.

"Maybe the words should be bigger," Cat suggested. The others began to add their own recommendations before Tori interrupted them.

"Uh, uh, uh," she began, "I believe in my own choice and I don't need approval from others."

"And Tori has learnt the ways of The Bird Scene," Freddie smiled at his friend. Jade narrowed her eyes a little at them.

"I still think it's dull," she noted.

"Well then maybe I should _Make It Shine_," her fellow brunette commented smugly, pressing a button and lighting the letters and some stars in the backdrop; this impressed the others.

"Thanks Freddie," she muttered from the corner of her mouth; the tech wizard had helped with the circuitry, though he hadn't seen the backdrop when he did so.

"Ok, are we going to eat or what?" Jade asked impatiently.

"Oh yay, food," Cat voiced her agreement and they began to depart.

"Are you coming with us?" Freddie asked.

"Sure," she agreed and skipped to catch up with him as they left the building.

* * *

**AN: Thanks for reading. Please drop me a review and let me know what you thought and do come back next week when the gang try their hand at Stage Fighting… PD**


	13. Chapter 13: Stage Fighting

**AN: Hello everyone and welcome to the latest chapter. I had hoped to post it last week in the usual slot but I was unable to do so. Hopefully it is better late than never.**

**My thanks as always at this time go out to those of you who read and, especially, reviewed Chapter 12.**

**Guest – again some great points about the Cat/Freddie relationship but while she's with Danny nothing can really happen with Freddie, no matter how much she may want it to.**

**Fanfic-Reader-88 – some nice scenes you've conjured up there. Sikowitz may just get what's coming to him, verbally if nothing else, one of these days.**

**Pbow – good points on teen romances. Bear in mind though that Jade doesn't know that Cat is dating Danny at the moment, hence still wanting to engineer things with her and Freddie.**

**Challenge King – thank you; a little more honesty here and there may indeed help them along. Freddie being a nice, helpful guy? Imagine that!**

**Guest – you may be right but fifteen-year-olds aren't always blessed with great decision making skills.**

**Agent-M – correct, Jade may now feel she has **_**two**_** reasons to dislike Tori. Maybe her fears will get explored someday soon…**

**Ok, that's everyone. Please enjoy the next chapter.**

* * *

Chapter 13: Stage Fighting

_Valentine Residence, Hollywood Hills, Los Angeles, California_

_Saturday, 27__th__ February 2010_.

Cat's face lit up as she walked through the front door; she was home. "It's great to be back!" the teen cried before turning to her grandmother who was a couple of steps behind her, "Not that it wasn't great staying with you, Nona," she added quickly, for fear of upsetting the elder lady.

"It was good having you stay, Caterina," she said warmly, "but you need to be back in your own home now that your parents have returned," she added without any trace of malice or hurt.

The Valentine parents had returned home late the previous evening, around midnight; they had called their daughter around an hour before they arrived, letting her know that they were almost back and that they would see her in the morning. As a result the always-excited girl had been even moreso overnight and had slept even more intermittently than she usually did on Christmas Eve. She was in high spirits, however, and they elevated further when she saw her mother leaning casually against the kitchen counter and smiling at her.

"Mom!" Cat cried and flung herself on the woman; she eagerly returned the hug and held her daughter close while informing her of just how good it was to see her again. Cat then turned to her father and greeted him in similar fashion while the two adult females talked.

"Thank you so much for looking after her, mom," Mrs Valentine told her mother. "It really did help while we were up in Idaho, knowing that our little girl was safe, well and being taken care of."

"It was my pleasure," Nona replied sincerely, "now how was your trip?"

Over coffee they talked about all that had gone on, how the institution was taking care of their son and some of the other things that they had done while up in the north of the country.

After a while the two parents looked at one another with small grins. "I'll take you home when you're ready, mom," Mrs Valentine informed Nona once the latter had set down her now empty cup and plate; they had enjoyed a second cup over a light lunch.

"Yes, I really should be getting back," she took the subtle hint. "It's good to see you both again and it was lovely having you stay with me for a while, Caterina," she told the family and began to gather her belongings.

"Why don't you make a start on unpacking your things," Cat's father suggested to her when the two had been left alone by the departure of mother and daughter. "I'm sure you want to say hello to your room again," he added with a smile.

"'Kay 'kay, daddy," she matched his facial expression, gathered her bags from the hallway and flew upstairs to her room, almost squealing with delight as she walked around it, reminding herself of the little personal effects that she had left behind during her stay with her grandmother.

The parents' plan worked and the teenager was still engrossed in her room and her things when Mrs Valentine returned; she wasn't alone, however, as a yapping sound filled the house, distracting the red velvet-haired girl from her tasks. She quickly rose and dashed out of her room and back downstairs to investigate the commotion.

"What do you think?" her dad asked, holding a yellow Labrador puppy in his hands and waving one of its paws at his daughter.

"Oh I love it!" she squealed eagerly and rushed to his side to begin making a fuss of the dog.

"Well we thought that now things in the house would be… more settled," Mrs Valentine began delicately, "that we could get a dog."

The girl nodded; pets and her brother had threatened to be a bad combination in the past.

_Hollywood Arts High School._

_Monday, 1__st__ March 2010_.

Freddie and Cat were making their way down the stairs towards the lockers when they heard the bell calling the students to first class.

"So, I'm smiling like this right?" the little red-head explained, continuing her chatter about her weekend (the girl had told him about celebrating her parents' return home and her move back into their own home but for some reason had neglected to mention the new dog) as they happened upon Tori; the brunette was struggling to force a French Horn into her locker.

It had been an otherwise good last few days for the school's newest student; she was rapidly settling into life at the Performing Arts High School and seemed to have integrated well with the small group of sophomores who had made her welcome (apart from Jade). She was particularly interested in striking up a "close" friendship with the muscular ex-Seattleite, having taken quite a shine to Freddie and felt that she had bonded a little with him over the whole 'Bird Scene' incident. She was also working hard alongside André on an evening; having won the lead in _Moonlight Magic_ she was now trying to learn her lines and the songs ahead of opening night the following Monday.

"Tori!" the tech producer called.

"What's up?" Cat asked; the girl was taking advantage of the milder weather by wearing a cute little dress that barely covered half of her thighs.

"I'm having a horn problem," the other girl answered. "Why do I have to play an instrument anyway?"

"Everyone at Hollywood Arts has to play an instrument," Cat explained.

"André taught me the basics of the keyboard," Freddie supplied. "Oh, speak of the devil… André!" he called and their dreadlocked friend joined the group.

"Hey guys and girls," the musician smiled.

"Well I sing," Tori moved the conversation back on track, "my throat is my instrument. I'm a throat player," she smiled.

"Doesn't count, sorry," the former Seattle native told her.

"And it sounds kind of gross," the cupcake loving teen added; André nodded along with her.

"Why did you pick the French horn?" the songsmith asked her.

"I don't know," Tori's tone was casual as she studied the instrument. "I like French Fries, French kissing," she threw a quick, telling glance in Freddie's direction, "French toast…"

Cat, who had forced herself to suppress a momentary pang of displeasure at the other girl's flirtatious look towards Freddie, gasped at the mention of the food. "One time, when I was eating French toast at a restaurant, I started laughing," she giggled before her face fell a bit, "and then I started choking so the lady who ran the restaurant made me leave." Her expression turned positively morose as she concluded, "Eli broke up with me not long afterwards." Freddie patted her arm gently and she flashed him a smile of her own.

"So let's hear your horn!" Freddie encouraged Tori.

"Yeah, play that funky music white girl," André echoed; Freddie frowned a little at his comment.

"You know I'm half Latina," she reminded them.

"Then hit it muchacha," he amended.

The brunette tried to play a few notes on the instrument, drawing the attention of a number of surrounding students with just how bad it sounded.

"Hmm, I think it's broken," she observed; Cat nodded her agreement.

"Here, let me fix it," André took it from her and began a jazz rendition of _Make It Shine_ that a number of the other students gathered around him and danced along to.

"It's not broken!" Cat told Tori excitedly and joined the dancing; the girl gave Freddie a hopeless look and slumped back against her locker.

_Black Box Theatre_

After first period ended Tori made her way to the theatre for her next class; she arrived early and was shocked to see Beck in the middle of the auditorium trading blows with an adult that she didn't recognise. Without further surveying the scene she dashed to the Canadian teenager's aid, leaping onto the grown-up's back shouting "Get off of him! Leave him alone!"

Their teacher entered the room along with a number of other students, including her friendship group, and dashed over to break up the scene, finally hauling the girl off the unrecognised male.

"What are you doing?" the teacher demanded.

"That guy was beating up Beck!" she protested.

"Oh you poor thing," Jade told her in a condescending manner as she went to her boyfriend's side and took his hand.

"We were practicing," Beck explained to her.

"This is Russ," the teacher pointed to the guy.

"I'm Russ!" he echoed.

"He's a professional stuntman; I invited him here to teach the class about stage fighting," their long-haired teacher continued.

"And now Tori says, 'What's stage fighting?'" Jade mocked.

"I wasn't going to say that. You said something about it on my first day," she mentioned to Freddie, who nodded as she recalled the term, "When you didn't think I was me. Remind me what it is?" she urgently whispered the last part to him.

"Fake fighting that looks real, like for a play or a movie," he replied simply.

"Oh."

"I took a class with him last summer," Beck clarified.

"Well, it looked like he was hurting you," the girl protested.

"Why do you care?" Jade demanded suspiciously, bringing a grin from her fellow brunette.

"Because I figure he already suffers enough pain dating you."

"You want to see pain?" the pink-streak haired girl shrugged off Beck and took a threatening step towards the other girl; her boyfriend quickly caught her by the shoulders.

"Hey, why don't we go sit over there?" he suggested.

"Why does she hate me?" Tori asked André.

"Maybe she heard you play the French horn," André sniggered.

"Or maybe it was because you just insulted her," Freddie suggested, "you know, with what you said about her and Beck?"

Tori looked a little embarrassed to have been called out like that by her friend; he stood with arms folded and looked unapologetically at her for a few moments before she simply turned away and took a seat.

Eventually the class took theirs as well, allowing Russ to begin his demonstration; the stuntman called Cat to the stage.

"Now, if I throw a punch at Cat like this," the girl gasped and closed her eyes as he swung but he was clearly inches away from connecting; she smiled at him as she opened her eyes again. "It's easy to see that my fist didn't connect with her face."

"Thank you," she told him gratefully; he looked at her in confusion.

"But if we stage it from a different angle, then…" he turned the girl around slightly and stood with his back to the class. "Like I showed you." The redhead nodded slightly nervously. "Sound effect ready?" he asked the teacher, who confirmed it. "To the audience or camera, it'll look like this."

This time he swung and a sound of flesh hitting flesh could be heard as his fist reached Cat's face; the girl gasped and covered her face with her hands before dropping her hands revealing her unblemished features to the room.

"I'm ok everyone!" she cried happily as they applauded.

Their teacher took the stage. "Alright, I'm going to pair you guys up and each team will work with Russ this week to prepare a fight scene."

"I thought his name was Steve," André commented.

"He does look like a Steve," Tori agreed; the class seemed to concur given their murmurs.

"My name is Russ!" Russ complained.

"Okay, and on Friday, you will all perform your fight scenes here in front of the class. Now, the pairs will be: Beck and Cat, André and Freddie, Darren and Jess, Tori and Jade."

"Tori and who?" the new student asked in surprised horror as her fellow brunette grinned malevolently and raised her eyebrows slightly. "Uh wait," she approached the teacher, "I'm not comfortable with my partner."

"Just a sec," he muttered and returned his attention to his clipboard.

"Hey partner," Jade said, walking up behind her, "I can't wait for our fight." She turned away slightly before hesitating. "Scene," she added and walked off.

"Gulp," Tori declared nervously.

_The Slap Mobile_

_Tori Vega: My life = in DANGER_

_Mood = Yikes_

* * *

"Status report." Robbie was practicing his lines by Tori's locker. "Status report," he repeated. "Will you please read the next line?" he asked Rex.

"I don't want to help you rehearse," the puppet complained.

"I made you oatmeal this morning," his handler pointed out.

"I wanted a steak sandwich," Rex complained.

The casting teacher arrived in the hallway. "Okay," he informed them, "auditioning next are Trina Vega and Robbie Shapiro."

"Oh, no, no, no! The puppet guy?" the deluded diva was scandalised.

"Excuse me?" the curly-haired ventriloquist sought confirmation of her disgust.

"Could I please audition with someone else?" she requested.

"You know, you can whisper that," the affronted boy pointed out.

"But..." she frowned as the teacher walked away before outright glaring at her auditioning co-star. "Leave the puppet," she instructed him.

"It's cool; just make sure you don't set me down next to the evil blonde."

Lindsey heard the exchange and watched as Robbie placed Rex a few feet away from her; her revulsion with the teen was tempered by Rex's words. _The evil blonde_. _Is that how they see me?_ she wondered sadly. _Is that how _Freddie_ sees me?_ Again she felt the all too familiar sensation of tears stinging her eyes as she reflected on the boy she dumped at the start of the school year.

_Asphalt Café, Hollywood Arts High School._

_Tuesday, 2__nd__ March 2010_.

_The Slap Mobile_

_Tori Vega: Lunch time. Salad with big lettuce. Still worried._

_Mood = Buggin'_

Tori, Freddie, André and Cat were sat at the gang's usual table; Beck and Jade were lunching alone a couple of tables away from them. Tori cast a nervous glance past Freddie and towards the young couple.

"Look at her," the brunette told her friends.

"Who?" asked Freddie, who had his back to them.

"Jade, I guarantee you she's telling Beck all about how she's gonna punch me when we do our scene."

Freddie shook his head, dismissing the thought but he was spared having to voice his opinion by his ex-girlfriend's latest random outpouring.

"I wonder if mirrors work in outer space," the redhead commented as she studies her powder mirror.

"Uh they should do," the tech genius told her. "So long as there's a light source the presence or otherwise of air and gravity should be irrelevant. Telescopes like Hubble do, after all."

"Oh, 'kay 'kay," she smiled at him.

"I mean, what am I gonna do if she really hits me?" Tori tried to take the conversation back to her concerns.

"Bleed? Burst into tears?" André suggested.

"I'm serious," the half-Latina complained.

"It's stage fighting," the songsmith explained.

"Nobody really hits anyone," Freddie backed him up.

"Yeah but accidents happen and what if she makes an accident happen on purpose?" the girl persisted, fighting with the lettuce from her lunch.

"You know, the word mirror has only six letters and half of them are 'r's?" Cat piped up; the other three looked at her in confusion.

"Haven't you and Jaden been rehearsing?" Freddie asked curiously.

"Yeah, yesterday, after school in the Black Box theatre and again this morning, during study hall," the singer confirmed.

"And did she hit you for real?" he persisted.

"No, 'cause she probably wants to wait and do it in front of the whole class to humiliate me," the girl complained.

"I doubt that," the Seattle-born teen defended his friend.

"Well, if she does, she loses half a letter grade," André pointed out.

"Oh, great! So she gets an 'A minus' and I get a broken eye and a black nose." Tori complained.

"Don't you mean…" Freddie began before she cut him off.

"I know what I meant."

"My dog has a black nose. It's so cute. It's like a baby meatball," Cat piped up to Freddie's bewilderment.

"I didn't know you had a dog," he observed.

"Meatballs are brown," the musician pointed out to the girl; unfortunately this upset her to the point that she completely forgot Freddie's remark.

"You're so mean to me!" She got up, gathered her soda and left the table, and her lunch, behind.

"You want to share a sandwich?" Tori asked the boys. André accepted; Freddie, reluctantly, declined.

"I'd best go after her," he sighed in resignation and chased after the girl.

"Hi Freddie," Trina simpered as he passed her.

"Hey Trina," he smiled. "You'll have to excuse me," he told her as she tried to block his path. The girl was affronted and stared after him as he left in search of his red-haired friend.

* * *

"You're up to something," Beck accused his girlfriend teasingly.

"Who, me?" she asked innocently, trying to keep the smirk from her face and the gleam from her eye.

"I'm going to regret this," he sighed, "does it have something to do with the scene that you and Tori have to do?"

"Of course not, I don't know how you could think that." Jade sounded scandalised. "Do you really think I'd risk my grade and risk getting into trouble over _her_?"

"Just promise me that you won't really hit her," the Canadian actor urged.

"No problem, I promise," she shrugged.

Somewhat mollified, Beck returned his attention to his lunch.

* * *

"Hey Robbie," Freddie greeted the ventriloquist. Rex coughed meaningfully. "Hello Rex," he sighed wearily. "Have you seen Cat?" he asked the handler.

It was the puppet who was to answer. "Nah, he's not seen _anything_, not since his audition."

"Why, was it _that_ bad?" the tech producer assumed the worst. Robbie looked furiously at him.

"No, for your information it was _fantastic_. Trina Vega has fallen in love with me!"

"What?"

"It's true; we kissed on stage and the heat was _incredible_," he declared.

"Were you not _supposed_ to kiss during the scene then?" Freddie was confused.

"Yeah, and we did, and it was awesome!"

"It was probably a stage kiss then," he noted dismissively; Robbie disagreed.

"You don't just fake that kind of kiss; Trina _loves_ me," he stated confidently and walked out to the Asphalt Café for the rest of the lunch period, and maybe to track down 'his girl'.

Freddie, meanwhile, headed in the opposite direction in an attempt to find Cat, finally succeeding by the lockers and vending machines where she was, unusually angrily, obtaining a soda.

"There you are," he noted calmly, smiling at the girl.

"Oh, hey Freddie," she settled in an instant and began smiling at him.

"Are you ok?" he asked in concern.

"Yeah," she took a sip of her freshly bought drink, "why wouldn't I be?"

"Because you stormed away from lunch after snapping at André?" he suggested. "You seemed upset when you left."

"He was mean to me, it upset me," she complained. "I'm better now," she smiled reassuringly.

"Ok, if you're sure," he opted not to challenge the girl on this occasion. "So, you've got a dog?" he prompted.

"Yes, you know how my parents came back this weekend?" He nodded. "Well, they bought a puppy, now that my brother's not around to scare it or accidentally hurt it or something," her face fell at the thought.

"I'll have to come over and say hello sometime," the Seattle-born commented.

"Oh, that'd be great," she enthused, following him to his locker as the bell rang.

Freddie retrieved some things, closed his locker and sighed. "I guess we need to get to class," he told the girl. "Are you and Beck ready for your scene."

"I think so," she confirmed. "How about you and André?"

"Yeah, we're good to go," he answered as they made their way to the Black Box theatre.

_Black Box Theatre_.

_The Slap Mobile_

_Tori Vega: Time for stage fighting class. Should I ditch? I wish._

_Mood = Freaked._

"I'm not in love with your mother" André insisted.

_Thank God for that_, Freddie thought privately as he continued to swing at his friend, occasionally "connecting" with an appropriate sound effect but mostly the African-American dodged as her backpedalled across the stage. Finally Freddie caught him and delivered mock blows to his face and midriff before throwing him (André helped by jumping, though with the work from his gym and fencing sessions paying off the tech producer really could have lifted his friend) through a break-away table; Tori looked on in concern as the boy landed in a heap on the floor.

"And scene!" Freddie called. Cat and Russ led the applause as the Seattleite helped his friend up and they took their bow.

"Alright, next up we have Tori and Jade," the teacher announced; the gothic girl smiled at her partner as they got up and made their way on stage; Freddie gave his old and new friends an encouraging smile as he passed them.

"Okay, for our scene," Tori introduced it for the class, "I'm going to be playing an old lady who's walking home from a bingo game."

"And I play a brutal mugger," Jade declared gleefully.

"Yes, a brutal mugger who mugs me without actually hurting me," the lighter brunette pointed out.

"Okay, as always, be careful, and if anything goes wrong, just yell the safe word, which is...butternut," Russ told them.

"Ok guys, ready?" the teacher started them off. "And…"

"Butternut!" Tori called in panic.

"What?" Jade threw her hands up in annoyance while the rest of the class traded looks of amusement and bemusement.

"Tori, what's the problem?" the teacher asked.

"I was testing the safe word; it works," she declared happily; Jade rolled her eyes and sighed in frustration. "Ok, I'm ready," she conceded.

"And...action."

Tori donned a grey haired wig and began walking using a walking stick, imitating an old lady. "Oh, I certainly did enjoy the bingo, although I do miss Bob Hope," she said in a quivering voice. The audience sniggered appreciatively before Jade dashed forward from the back of the stage wearing a black knit cap.

"Give me your money," she demanded.

"What?!"

"I ain't playing? Give me your money, _and_ your watch."

"Oh, wouldn't you rather have… this?" Tori turned and swung with her cane; the audience heard a satisfying 'thunk' as Jade spun on her way to the floor, groaning in pain.

"Butternut! Butternut!" she yelled, blood already visible under her left eye as Tori looked on in confusion.

"She's bleeding!" Cat yelled as the others rushed to the girl's side; Beck, Russ and the teacher gathered around Jade to check on her.

"Are you ok?" her boyfriend asked in concern.

"No, Tori hit me in the face for real!" she complained.

"No I didn't," the lighter brunette insisted.

"Tell that to my bloody eye!" she groaned again.

"Alright, you'd better sit down," Freddie encouraged.

"Someone get her a chair," their teacher called; Tori spied a wooden one at the back of the stage and brought it to her. Jade sat on it, only, to Tori's immense horror, to fall through it and on to the floor.

"That was a breakaway chair!" Russ berated her.

"Aww, butternut!" the new student exclaimed as Jade looked accusingly at her from the ground.

* * *

Cat had fetched her best friend an ice pack; the stuntman applied it to the pink-streak haired girl's eye as she sat on an altogether more solid chair with a slew of her classmates still surrounding her and looking on in concern.

"Why did you hit Jade in the face with a cane?" the little red-head demanded.

"I didn't!" her friend snapped.

"Ok, I believe you, don't hit me!" the shorter teen begged; Tori sighed in response.

"Will you back me up here?" she asked André, who was stood by her.

"Okay, look, I'm sure Tori didn't mean to whack Jade in the face with the cane," the songsmith began.

"Oh, why does everyone think I hit her?" she lamented.

"Well, we were watching you guys do a scene. You hit her across the face with your cane, she fell down and now, her eye's all bloody."

"Well, that doesn't mean I hit her," she insisted.

"I kind of think it does," he contradicted after trading an incredulous look with Cat.

She groaned and headed for her fellow brunette, who had just stood up. "Jade, you know I didn't hit you. I swung, but I missed," she argued.

"Look Tori," the mean girl began weakly; her legs gave way a moment later and those stood around her rushed to keep her upright.

"Hey, we've got to get her to the nurse," the teacher observed.

"But I didn't hit her," Tori insisted again.

"Can someone call my mom?" Jade asked pathetically.

"I'll call your mom," Beck confirmed.

"She doesn't need her mom. Don't bother her mom!"

"I've got to call her mom," he argued.

"And I thought we were just starting to be friends," was Jade's parting shot as she left the theatre.

"But I didn't..." the girl turned to the surprisingly silent Freddie for support; he was wearing a frown on his otherwise unreadable face. "You too?" she accused before trudging out without waiting for an answer from the boy.

_Green Meadow Mall_

_6801 Hollywood Blvd, Los Angeles_

Cat had taken a seat by her favourite smoothie place; she was waiting for Danny to show up so that they could catch a movie (Jade wasn't going to be able to hang with her after the events of today and she knew that Freddie was at the gym with André – or possibly they were fencing; the redhead often struggled to keep track of her friends' movements).

"Hello," she heard a voice from behind her; somehow her date had snuck past her, bought her a smoothie and arrived at the table, all without her noticing. She wondered briefly how she had been so unobservant before casting it to one side and greeting him happily and accepting a kiss from him; the couple were exploring things slowly in their relationship but both felt that things were heading in the right direction. A part of Cat still wished for another boy but she was certainly enjoying spending time with, and dating, the one who was with her right now. She retook her seat and he eased into one next to her, taking her free hand with his as she returned her attention to her treat. He began to suck on his as well in between their talks about how their respective days had been (for Cat this included a blow-by-blow account of the Stage Fighting class).

Smoothies consumed, the teenage couple headed for the movie theatre at the mall; although it was Danny's turn to pick he deliberately chose something that he knew the girl would like, and she was grateful for his consideration. She snuggled close to him and stole the occasional peck as they sat through the chick flick.

_Asphalt Café._

_Wednesday, 3__rd__ March 2010_.

Jade was sat alone at a table, picking moodily through her lunch. Her left eye was appeared discoloured and bruised.

"Hey, how are you feeling?" Beck asked jovially as he approached the table; the couple had been in different classes immediately before lunch.

"My eye hurts," she noted.

"Oh yeah, which one?" he asked playfully, taking a seat next to his girlfriend, setting his food and soda down on the table.

She spared him a mirthless smile. "Cute. I want coffee."

"What's the magic word?" he teased, as if talking to a young child.

"Get me some coffee," she suggested before relenting, "please."

"Actually the magic word was 'lotion', but I'll accept your 'please' because you've got a boo-boo eye."

He stood up and headed for the coffee stand.

"Two sugars," she called after him.

"I know what to do," he informed her.

The girl was only alone for a few moments before the Seattle-born tech producer arrived at the table. He set his food and soda down opposite her and took a seat with a brief, "Hey Jade."

"Hey," she returned then, seeing him continue to stare at her, "What?" she snapped belligerently; he smiled over top of his drink as he eyed the girl.

"Did you forget that my mom's a nurse?" he asked casually; she eyed him curiously. "Jade, I _know_ a fake black eye when I see one. Tori never hit you, did she?" he challenged.

The gothic girl sighed; she knew that denial was hopeless and that the game was up. "So are you going to tell on me?" she asked in resignation.

"After all we've been through? And _everything_ that you've done for me, how much you've been there for me over the whole _Lindsey_ thing? Of course not," he actually sounded offended that she would suggest that; the dark brunette looked at him in mild shock.

"So what's this about then?"

"I'm not going to tell anyone – but you are going to have to decide what you want to do about Tori. Either you cut her some slack or you carry on this feud of yours for the next two and a half years. Personally I think she's a nice girl and I think that she'd be a good friend to you if you wanted her to be." Then he shrugged. "Also you're the one that has to be comfortable with what you see when you look at yourself in the mirror."

He returned to his drink and the table lapsed into silence as the mean girl pondered his words.

A couple of tables away Robbie had been shot down by Trina.

"Trina! Wait, baby!" the ventriloquist called.

"What's the matter?" Cat asked as she replaced the diva at the table; the warmer weather had led the girl to wear a white, flowery top that barely covered her very short jean shorts. The girl was still in her customary high spirits after her enjoyable date the previous night.

"Trina's in denial," he complained.

"Ah, you're still on that?"

"Trina loves me."

"It was a _stage kiss_," the red velvet-haired teen insisted. "She was acting."

"You didn't feel the kiss. A girl can't fake that kind of heat. I don't care if she tells me a thousand times that it didn't mean anything..." Cat cut him off by kissing him. Across the Asphalt Café Jade and Freddie watched the kiss in surprise before trading amazed looks with one another.

"I don't know _what_ is going on there," Jade commented.

"See," Cat waved a hand and returned to her lunch.

"Ah, she faked it," the gothic teen smiled knowingly. "Must be that chizz going down between him and Trina that she's trying to snap him out of. You've still got a shot with her," she grinned at the boy opposite her.

"Only if she's still interested," he let slip without thinking.

"Oh, so you _are _interested?" the girl pressed with a teasing smirk.

Freddie sighed. "Things are getting better for me," he conceded. "Since I went to Seattle and talked stuff through with Spencer – I really think I'm getting there; I've kept on talking to him now and again and I'm starting to think that putting my heart out there again with the right girl could be worth doing."

"It's about time," Jade grinned. "Not a word to Beck about," she cautioned, motioning briefly to her eye as she watched her boy returning with two steaming cups of coffee.

Meanwhile… "I want you to meet my parents," Robbie told his classmate; she almost choked on her food before rolling her eyes in resignation.

_The Slap Mobile_

_Tori Vega: OMG – I just got called to the GUIDANCE COUNSELOR'S OFFICE. Whyyyyy?!_

_Mood= Frustrated._

The brunette was alone and in tears in the library when a concerned Freddie happened upon her; having no dance class he was taking advantage of a free period to get his homework done as he had to work at the Pear Store tonight.

"Tori?" he whispered as he approached the distraught girl; he had been troubled ever since he saw her _Slap_ update about being summoned to Lane's office.

"Lane," she responded to his querying look before her tears intensified; he took the seat next to her and wrapped his arms gently around her as she began to weep against his chest. Finally she composed sufficiently to, albeit through renewed sobs, disclose her woes to him.

"He started out all nice and calm, telling me that I wasn't in any trouble – even though Derek, you know: the security guard?" Freddie nodded his confirmation, "was there with him. He said it was to help deal with my 'violence issues'," she air-quoted, "and then, still being nice and friendly, he suggested that it happened on adrenaline; that I swung and maybe accidentally hit her. I just wanted to get out of there as soon as I could so I agreed it was a possibility and then," she burst into a fresh torrent of tears so the boy pulled her back into his arms until they subsided, "he said as punishment I have two weeks detention, a lower grade, Friday night cleaning up the Black Box theatre after a Middle School play that ends in a food fight _and_ I can't appear in _Moonlight Magic_," she wailed the final part as the brown-haired boy's frown intensified; Freddie was absolutely furious by the time she finished talking. "It was supposed to be my first play, my first chance to show what I can do and gain extra credit for my performances and now it's been taken away from me," she sobbed. "It's all just so unfair when I didn't even hit her and nobody believes me. I don't know _how_ she got the black eye but I swear I never touched her; you _have_ to believe me," she begged him.

The boy winced internally; he knew the truth yet what he had told Jade was true and came flooding back to him. He frowned as he tried to figure out how on earth he could solve this dilemma; staying loyal to Jade without Tori having to suffer as much as she was. He rested his chin on the top of her head and continued to hold her.

"_Do_ you believe me?" she pressed urgently when he remained silent. He lifted his chin and pulled back a little to allow her to look at him.

"Jade's still telling everyone that you did while you're saying you didn't," he began slowly and deliberately. "She's walking around with a black eye so you have to see why other people are believing her," he concluded reasonably.

"So _you_ think I hit her as well?" the hurt was unmistakable in her eyes that yet another person, particularly one she thought she could _really_ trust, also thought that she was lying.

"You sound so sincere about it; I _do_ believe you," he was grateful for the opportunity to answer in this way and not betray his confidant's trust, "but convincing other people could prove difficult." He sighed. "I'll take to Jade," he promised her, "and see if she can put in a good word with Principal Eikner about getting some or all of this punishment lifted."

"Thanks Freddie," she managed a watery smile at the boy. "I'm going home; today's just sucked," she declared. "I'll see you tomorrow." She got up and took a couple of steps away before pausing for a second, turning back towards her friend and giving him a quick peck on the cheek and a hug before leaving. Her actions surprised the teen and he turned and watched her go, smiling at her retreating rear before shaking his head and refocusing; he pulled his phone from his jeans pocket and fired off a text.

_Benson residence, Hollywood Hills_.

The doorbell rang shortly after Freddie arrived home after work; Jade was leaning casually against the side of the house as Freddie answered; her demeanour hid the apprehension that she felt.

"Hey Jade," he greeted the girl, happy that she had responded to his 'summons' by text from earlier in the day. "Come in," he moved to the side to grant her access to his home.

"Thanks. Is your mom home?" she asked as she walked past him into the living area.

"No, she's working nights this week." He closed the front door and followed her into the room.

"Good. I… uh, I got your text; I figure you wanted to talk about what happened during class."

"Or what _didn't_ happen?" he suggested with a wry smile as he turned to face her. "Do you know what's happened to her?" he pressed. Jade shook her head nervously; she suspected that this was what he wanted to discuss with her. He rattled off the litany. "She's got two weeks of detention, she's got to clean up the Black Box theatre on Friday night and she's been banned from appearing in André's play. He's absolutely devastated about the last one and I can't say I blame her," in spite of who he was talking to he felt his anger increasing, "she's been waiting for this moment since she got to Hollywood Arts and now she's going to lose her chance to perform," he shook his head. "Imagine how _you'd_ feel if you weren't allowed to perform in something you'd won a role in."

Jade slumped on the couch; her fear was growing by the second that she was going to lose his friendship over this. Ironically it was the very thing that she wanted to protect by planning to turn him against the new student; she shocked her host by beginning to dissolve into tears. Whatever reaction Freddie may have been expecting from her, _this_ certainly wasn't it.

"Jade?" he asked cautiously, taking a seat next to her on the couch and slipping an arm around her; he was bewildered to find himself, for the second time that day, trying to console a sobbing girl. "Your make-up's a little…" he pointed under her eyes to where the (mostly black) eye-liner was running down her cheek, mingling a little with some of the purplish make-up she had used to portray a bruised eye. He pulled a tissue from a packet on the coffee table and began to tenderly wipe her face dry and remove the smeared make-up.

He sat in silence holding the gothic girl and gently rubbing her back as she continued to cry against him. It took around half-a-minute for her to compose herself; he gave her face another wipe with a fresh tissue as she faced him.

"Thanks," she choked through rasping breaths before hesitating.

"So what caused the melt-down?" His tone was curious at seeing such a non-Jade West moment from the ice queen.

"You were angry… with me," she admitted. "I just… I look at Tori, I see the way she is, the way she acts ever since she came to our school and…" she looked down, unable to meet his eyes as she concluded her confession, "I got scared," she whispered.

"Scared?" he repeated in surprise. "What of?"

"Of _her_; she's this perfect Mary-Sue, nice and sweet. She was rubbing Beck, she kissed _you_… and you liked it," she accused.

"It was a _stage kiss_," he fired back, "you should know about sharing those with me," he reminded her.

"I know but then she was all over you about figuring out The Bird Scene, she's still casting her eye at Beck – I'm sure of it – I was just scared that I was going to lose him, to lose _you_ as a friend as well, to her."

Freddie sighed. "You _know_ you're my go-to girl, the _only_ person I can trust with whatever chizz is going on in my life. Do you _really_ think I'd let someone replace you, just like that?" he asked in a calm voice.

"I guess," she conceded weakly before swallowing nervously. "So now what? You're going to tell _now_ because of what's happened to her?"

"The answer's still no," he told her. She looked at him in amazement as he took her hands in his and continued, "I _won't_ betray your trust, Jade, not for her, not for _anyone_. I just want to figure out some way of fixing this without _you_ having to suffer."

"Any ideas?"

"Only one; you go to Mr Eikner, tell him what Lane has done, tell him that it was an accident and ask him to let her have her part in _Moonlight Magic_."

"And if I don't want to?" She needed to be sure.

"Then, as much as it will… disappoint me," he chose the wording carefully, "I'll have to tell Tori that I asked you but you said no and she will have to suffer."

"You'd really do that?" Jade asked softly, shocked that he would conspire with her if that was her choice.

"I'd really do that," he confirmed sincerely, though she could read the pain and disappointment on his face already at the thought of being left in such a position.

"I'll talk to him tomorrow," she promised; he nodded.

"You should think about what I said earlier; I think she _would_ be a good friend to you if you let her and cut her a little slack. And meanwhile," he smiled as she got up; he followed her lead and they walked towards the front door, "I'll talk to Cat."

"What about?" she asked curiously.

_Thursday, 4__th__ March 2010_.

"Freddie!" The Guidance Counsellor spotted him walking through the hallway by the lockers and strode purposefully over to him. "What did you say to Cat?" he demanded.

"That she shouldn't be talking to you in future," the tech producer replied caustically.

"Why not?"

"Because you can't be trusted – not after what you did to Tori."

"Excuse me?" Lane was bewildered.

"You manipulate her into thinking that she _maybe_ _accidentally_ hit Jade in class and then punish her?"

"Freddie, what she did –" he began but the teenager cut him off.

"What she _did_ was part of a scene; it's not like she lay in wait for her after class or anything. They were _acting_ and she certainly didn't _mean_ to hit her. Do you usually punish people for accidents? What are you going to do with whatever Cat tells you?"

"_Nothing_," the man was irate at the suggestion.

"I don't believe you – and now neither does Cat. I'm due in class," he concluded as the bell rang, turning on his heel and walking briskly away from the stunned adult.

_Black Box Theatre_

_Friday, 5__th__ March 2010_.

Tori's mood was at its lowest ebb as she scraped the wall of the theatre with her spatula. The brunette was taking out her frustrations on the food that was stubbornly stuck to the various surfaces of the theatre. The longer she stayed there the more and more convinced she was becoming that she should simply abandon the Hollywood Arts experiment and go back to Sherwood. _What's the point?_ she asked herself bitterly._ If I'm not going to be allowed to perform, if someone is going to screw it up for me every time. If all of my 'friends' are just going to abandon me and think the worst of me_. She thought of Freddie and paused with a small but genuine smile; the brown-haired boy was the only one of the group who believed that she hadn't actually hit their classmate. He had done as he'd promised her and spoken to the gothic girl but it appeared that his entreaties had fallen on deaf ears given that she was still here on Friday night – and, crucially, still barred from appearing in _Moonlight Magic_. Mood quashed again she flung the rag from her shoulder onto the floor, picked up another bucket and a second cloth and made her way to the stage to begin cleaning it.

"Hey," a voice from behind surprised her. The half-Latina turned to see Jade stood just inside the theatre, eyeing her nervously. The next thing she noticed was that the girl's black eye had gone.

"Jade," she replied curtly. "Nice make-up job," she pointed to the pink streak-haired girl's eye.

"I spoke to Principle Eikner earlier," she took a seat in one of the few clean spots on the edge of the stage. "He'll speak to you on Monday but he says that he'll let you be in _Moonlight Magic_ and this won't go on your record. Is there still time for you to get up to speed before opening night."

Tori nodded before letting out a relieved breath; suddenly the day was taking a huge turn for the better but she needed one answer.

"Why?"

"Because of the injustice of it – you losing your chance to perform. As Freddie said, it's why we're all here in the first place."

"No, I mean why fake it in the first place?" Tori persisted.

"It's… tough to explain," she sighed before trying to talk through what she had said to Freddie earlier.

"That's crazy!" Tori interrupted. "I'd _never_ try to steal your friends; I just wanted to be _one _of them."

"I know and I get that now. I guess it was just a 'defence mechanism' or something. Anyway, I'll do this and you enjoy the rest of your Friday night – and I'll talk to Mr Eikner again on Monday; tell him the truth and get you out of the rest of your detentions." With that she picked up a second spatula, jumped from the stage and began to clean one of the pillars; Jade was surprised when Tori walked into her line of sight and began scraping at another of the walls.

"We'll get done twice as fast between us," she said with a smile.

* * *

**AN: Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed it. Whether you did or didn't, please feel free to drop me a review and I hope to have the next chapter up within the next week. PD.**


	14. Chapter 14: Tori The Zombie

**AN: Hello everyone and welcome to the latest chapter; I hope you are all well. A little reminder that I'm going to be slightly re-working the order of Series 1 episodes of Victorious for this story as and when I feel that I need to.**

**My thanks as always go to everyone who read and reviewed chapter 13. **

**Challenge King – yes, Freddie has a huge loyalty to Jade and ranks that above all else at this moment in time. She's pretty much the only person he would be prepared to sacrifice his ideals of right and wrong for.**

**Fanfic-Reader-88 – I'm not too sure on Cat's brother but I think was in **_**Terror On Cupcake Street**_** that she said he wasn't allowed to be in parades, or around horses so I assume there's an animal-related story there somewhere. Freddie might have **_**wanted**_** Jade to own up but it was up to her to do so and, as I said to Challenge King, his bond with her is so strong that he isn't going to force her to drop herself in it. As for talking to Cat, it was about Lane double-crossing Tori; he advised her not to see the Guidance Counsellor anymore.**

**Agent-M – thanks; here is the next chapter. I hope you enjoy it.**

**Pbow – yes, I think beneath her exterior Jade has her vulnerabilities (she showed as much to Tori in **_**Jade Dumps Beck**_** in canon). Beck certainly plays on her fears for whatever reason.**

**Guest – thank you. As you can tell this **_**isn't**_** a Thursday update; hopefully the next one will be but no promises. Given that Cat and Freddie haven't discussed the possibility of getting back together then I think he'd simply assume that she's no longer interested when he finds out about her and Danny.**

**Lastly, OneHorseShay updated his excellent _We Love Each Other_ earlier in the week; you should check it out. If we bug him enough then hopefully he'll update _iGuess We're Roomies_ soon too.**

**And now on with the story…**

* * *

Chapter 14: Tori The Zombie

_Hollywood Arts High School, Los Angeles._

_Monday, 15__th__ March 2010_.

The sophomore class were gathering eagerly around the noticeboard in the main hallway; Marty, one of the acting teachers, had just pinned up the cast list for the forthcoming production of _Uptown, Downtown_ and the students had raced from Sikowitz's class to find out who had landed what part. To Jade's substantial disappointment and frustration she had not won the lead; she would be playing pretty much the second most-important female character instead.

Tori was a little surprised, and extremely delighted, to have won the lead role; she had impressed the faculty with her performance in _Moonlight Magic_ the previous week, having been allowed to perform after Jade's intervention lifted the ban that Lane had imposed on her. Jade's subsequent talk with Principal Eikner had removed the remaining punishments from the new girl too, though the gothic girl had been able to avoid talking herself into trouble.

The two rival girls had talked, and bonded, a little when Jade arrived to replace Tori in her detention in the Black Box theatre; she had finally been weighed down by guilt over pretending to be hurt by the half-Latina and, reassured by Freddie that their friendship was sacrosanct, the gothic girl had pledged to tell the whole truth to their principal. Tori, however, was concerned about how that would be perceived, and just how much trouble Jade could get into for faking the whole thing and then not owning up sooner, so the two had agreed to see him together. In front of him Tori had apologised to Jade for unintentionally hitting her and Jade had accepted it, recognising that it had just been an accident; as such they left his office safe in the knowledge that there would be no further punishment for either girl. Meanwhile, following Tori's comment about Lane handing down the punishment when she conceded that she may have accidentally hit the other girl, the principal had spoken severely to his Guidance Counsellor about the perceived betrayal of trust; it was something Freddie also encouraged Cat to mention to him as a reason for no longer seeing Lane; Mr Eikner warned him about his future conduct regarding his dealings with the students.

Hopes for totally harmonious relations between the pair had been dashed somewhat, however, when they immediately found themselves in competition for the role of Penny in _Uptown, Downtown_. Tori had won out, leading to Jade lightly – and, in her mind anyway, good-naturedly – sniping at her afterwards; it was something that annoyed Beck, particularly as Jade's natural tone tends to disguise 'good natured'.

"Can you _just_ give her a break?" he asked in exasperation after one of Sikowitz's classes, where he felt his girlfriend had overstepped the boundaries a little too much.

"What's the problem? She knows I don't _really_ mean it," Jade kept her voice calm but inside she was simmering with annoyance at the way she saw her boy taking the other girls side – _a complete contrast to the way Freddie acted over the whole _Stage Fighting_ thing_ crossed the girl's mind more than once.

The tech producer, meanwhile, had won the male lead in the production and was looking forward to acting opposite a different girl; as much as he had enjoyed playing roles with both Cat and Jade the chance to have a new leading lady appealed to him (Beck had landed the second biggest male role with Robbie having a small part as well). It was one of the reasons that he wasn't able to totally share Jade's disappointment that she had been beaten to the part, though he did make sure to tell her how much he'd have enjoyed starring opposite her again, as he had done the previous semester.

"I'm sure we'll get the chance again at some point," he tried to assure her as they discussed it in Theatre History class, "it's not like it's a rare occurrence for them to put a play on here," he added with a chuckle.

"I just _expected_ to win the lead, you know?" she complained a little as she could allow him to see her frustration, knowing that he wouldn't judge her for it.

"Maybe they wanted to give Tori the chance to boost her resumé," he suggested, "since she's just started her and the rest of us have been here a year and a half already," _or maybe hers really was the best audition_, he thought but didn't say, for fear of offending his confidant, "and you still got a pretty major part in it anyway."

Jade nodded; it was a logical explanation to give a newcomer some experience and the chance to put something else on her resumé, though it didn't lessen her disappointment.

Cat, meanwhile, was enjoying life. Her home life was great, having fallen into a routine with the new family pet. Meanwhile she and Danny were continuing to date; in fact he had asked her over the previous weekend, right after a nice meal at Orangebee's Steakhouse, to be his girlfriend _officially_ –and it was something that she had readily agreed to.

_Black Box Theatre._

"Ready?" Marty, the class's oft-nervous acting teacher called as they prepared for the latest scene that they'd be rehearsing; it was one of the final scenes of the play. "Action." Spot lights illuminated Tori and Beck on stage; Freddie was stood in darkness on Tori's left hand side.

"I don't know," the girl told Beck, who was stood with her on-stage; both teens read from their scripts for now.

"Oh, come on!" he snapped. "Why can't you admit that you're in love with me?" the long-haired actor demanded.

"Why are you in love with me?" she countered.

"Because you're beautiful," he replied; his voice was naturally a little softer than the role demanded and he was having difficulty hardening it sufficiently. "Look at your face in the moonlight."

"I can't."

"You can."

"No, a person can't look at their own face, it's impossible."

Cat giggled at this while Marty grinned appreciatively.

"Then marry me and I'll buy you a thousand mirrors," Beck insisted; with effort he sharpened his tone again.

"But that's so many," the half-Latina gasped.

"My father's a billionaire," he reminded her in a more insistent voice than normal. "I can give you everything you've ever wanted _and_ I'm very good looking," he concluded as if to seal the deal.

"Yeah," she agreed with an involuntary grin; Jade was unable to prevent herself from narrowing her eyes momentarily in her seat. She wasn't a part of this particular scene.

"Think," he ordered, pointing at her before he turned away; Jade relaxed again a little.

The spotlight over Beck's head dimmed as Marty called out, "And lights go…" One appeared above Freddie, illuminating the Seattle-born sixteen-year-old.

"I don't know," she said again.

"It's okay that you don't know," he assured her in a gentle voice, stepping towards her and smiling softly.

"But you deserve an answer," she argued.

"I can wait. For you, I would wait a thousand years," he insisted, sincerity in every syllable.

"But that's so many!" she yelped again. Jade rolled her eyes and tapped away on her pearphone from the audience.

"I know I'm poor. I know I don't have much to offer, but I do love you."

Tori turned away from him. "Because I'm beautiful?" she asked in resignation.

"I don't love you, because you're beautiful." He called after her before stepping towards her and gently taking her upper arm, causing her to turn back to him. He dropped his arm back to her side and, looking straight into the girl's eyes, told her, "You're beautiful because I love you."

"Whoa," she whispered softly. Jade sighed in mild nausea before her attention was distracted when she received an e-mail through her phone; the sender's identity piqued her interest and she quickly called it up.

The ambience was spoiled as the lighting in the theatre began flashing and an upbeat tune started to play. Freddie and Tori looked up at the gantry in confusion, to where Sinjin was operating the controls.

Jade was far less subtle in her questioning, having been interrupted just as she was about to read the note. "What up with the disco?" she fired.

"I'm sorry. I hit the wrong thing," the bespectacled teen apologised.

"No, fifteen years ago your mother gave birth to the wrong thing!" she snapped. He gave her a panicked look as she sat down.

"All right why don't we take a break?" Marty suggested. "Tori, Freddie, Beck, you guys were great. Really nice stuff."

"Thanks," the three chorused.

"Guys, guys, everyone shut up a second," Jade had finished reading the e-mail.

"Whatcha got?" Freddie asked, making his way over to her.

"An e-mail from Principal Eikner."

"That says?" Tori prompted; Jade shot her a contemptuous look but began to read it; the girls may be on better terms these days but the gothic teen was still not above treating her with a little disdain when she felt the situation called for it.

"To all students involved in our school's production of _Uptown Downtown_, Sofia Michelle will be in Los Angeles from the 19th and will be personally attending your opening night performance."

A number of the students began to chatter excitedly, though Tori looked around in more than a little bemusement.

"Oh, my God!" Marty's panic was rising.

"Who's Sofia Michelle?" Tori asked Freddie.

"Oh, no, no, no!" Jade was scandalised; she took Beck's hand and they took a pair of seats.

"What?"

Jade palmed her face. "You get to be the lead and you don't even know who Sofia Michelle is?" she was a little incredulous.

"Well she is still new to all this," Freddie reasoned; Tori shot him a grateful glance before a thought struck her.

"Wait, is she the lady who does those infomercials with the vibrating hairbrush?" she asked the boy.

"I love that hairbrush," Sinjin added; it earned him confused looks from the assembled students.

"No; look at the cover of your script," Freddie explained kindly.

"Oh, Sofia Michelle wrote the play we're doing."

"Yeah, she's like the biggest playwright on Broadway," Jade enlightened her in a forcibly kinder tone.

"All right, you guys we knew we had to be great. Now, we have to be perfect. We are not going to disappoint Sofia Michelle," Marty insisted to his charges; they nodded determinedly.

Sinjin again altered the mood by starting up the lights and music again.

"Will you kill the disco?" Jade demanded.

"No one can kill disco!" he shot back and began dancing with his vibrating hairbrush, much to the bemusement of the watching teens. Jade and Freddie exchanged looks and simultaneously shook their heads.

_Vega Residence, Hollywood Hills_.

Tori and Trina entered their home; the elder sister, as always, had driven them and spent most of the journey talking about herself.

"Hi girls, how was your day?" their mother called from the kitchen. Trina immediately took the opportunity to repeat most of what she had told Tori.

"How about you?" Mrs Vega asked her younger daughter when the elder finally paused for breath.

"It was really good, thanks. We just had rehearsal for the play we're doing that starts this weekend. I won the lead and the other guys have been really great about keeping my nerves in check and helping me try to learn my lines, especially Freddie," she grinned a little at the thought of the boy she seemed to be drawing closer and closer to as she settled into school life.

The tell-tale grin wasn't lost on her mother. "So you like this Freddie guy then?" she pried in an amused tone; Tori gave her an embarrassed look.

"He's been really, really nice to me – _especially_ when I had some difficulties just after I started and again last week with another of my classmates; he seemed to be the only one who would actually support me… and now we're both leads in this play," she finished with a smile.

"You're dating him, aren't you?" Mrs Vega asked a little suspiciously, picking up on some of her daughter's mannerisms.

"No, no, we're not," she insisted, though at the same time she couldn't deny to herself that the thought did appeal to her as it fleetingly crossed her mind. "I've actually never heard him mention a girlfriend at all," she continued thoughtfully, "or appear particularly interested, even when I was smiling and trying to flirt a little with him," he tone was now laced with a small hint of disappointment. "I wonder what the deal is with him," the younger Vega mused, staring off into the distance.

"I wouldn't worry about it, sister," Trina drawled, "he's obviously gay."

"What makes you say that?" Tori asked in surprise, snapped back to the here-and-now.

"_Because_," she began knowingly, "_I've_ been smiling at him and flirting with him too ever since I first came across him just after you started school with us and he's shown no interest at all in _me_, so he _must_ be gay," the older sister concluded with an air of finality; Tori and the girls' mother just exchanged resigned looks.

_Make Up room, Hollywood Arts High School_

_Thursday, 18__th__ March 2010_.

The week had gone quickly – far _too_ quickly – for Tori's liking so far; she was beginning to get a little nervous again ahead of opening night the following evening. The brunette had tried to enlist Freddie to help with her rehearsals but between his job (Monday and Wednesday night) and his gym session with André on the Tuesday he hadn't had too much time, merely going over his own lines when he got home for the most part – usually persuading Marissa to help him with them on a night; for once the brown-haired teen was glad that his mother was working days and was there when he got home. She had also asked Trina; unsurprisingly her elder sister had been rather too self-absorbed to really help out, though her mother had been able to provide a little assistance when she was home. Despite this she felt that she had _most_ of them by heart and so she had switched attention to the songs and spent a little time singing them to herself this morning. Tonight, however, she would need to put in quite a bit of work in order to get _everything_ down.

"Cat? Cat?" the lead actress called; it was almost lunch time and she was hoping that her friend would join her in a bite to eat. The red haired girl was sitting at one of the stations working with Eli; he was the "willing" model on her latest assignment. The class hadn't been going too well for her so far as, despite it being historically one of her better subjects, she was really struggling with the latest task; so much so that two models had already refused to sit for her anymore. She _did_ ask Freddie but he was too busy outside of school to be able to help her out – at least, that was the excuse he gave her. "Hey, have you seen Cat?" she enquired of a male student who stood with his back to her; she yelped as he turned around and she saw his disfigured and badly burned features.

"It's just special effects makeup," he assured her.

"Oh, well, that is special... and I have been affected," she informed him. She then spied her quarry at the station behind the boy busily working on her latest model; she had been hidden by the mirrors that separated the banks of booths.

"Yo, Cat," she called.

The teen, wearing one of her habitually short dresses, purple today with a red, floral patterned light jacket over it, turned to her.

"Oh, hey, Tori!"

"Are we doing lunch?"

"Yeah, just a sec. I'm almost finished with my assignment."

"Oh, what's the assignment?" Tori had yet to sign up for this class.

"To transform a human face into a terrifying monster. Want to see?" the redhead offered.

"Terrify me," the brunette encouraged her.

Cat spun her model's swivel chair around so he faced the half-Latina and pulled a delighted face. "Isn't he scary?" she prompted.

"No, he's kind of adorable," Tori replied, for the boy had a bright orange face, pink nose and huge eyebrows.

"Ah man, you made me cute!" he lamented. "You're the worst," he told Cat before walking off.

"Well, let me try again after school," she begged.

"No, no, no, I'm done with you."

"No, wait," she pleaded.

"Done with you!" he repeated and left the room.

"Oh, that's the third model who's quit on me," she complained to her friend. "I'm going to get an 'F'... in make-up." The thought appalled her.

"Aww, that bites. Let's go get an 'A' in lunch," Tori urged, seizing the red-head's wrist to lead her from the room.

"Wait!" Cat dragged her heels as an idea hit her.

"No!" Tori was definite as she immediately cottoned on to the plan.

"I just need..." she began.

"I am not going to be your monster make-up model."

"But if I don't transform someone's face into a hideous monster by Monday, I'm going to fail this class." She was desperately trying to play on the taller girl's sympathies.

"And if I don't cram a turkey sandwich down my throat, I'm going to fail not starving to death," she retorted, turning to leave the room.

"Oh, come on." Cat raced around her to intercept. "We can do it tonight, tomorrow night, whenever you want," The bubbly girl was desperate.

"I'm in a huge play. I have to learn all my lines _and_ five songs," she reminded her.

"Tori!" the cupcake loving teen wailed.

"Cat!" she responded in kind.

The two squabbled for a few moments before the new student caved.

"Alright, fine, I'll do it," she relented reluctantly.

"Yay", Cat celebrated, opening her arms as if to hug the girl.

"But you're buying my lunch."

"Aw," she complained.

"Let's go," Tori seized her wrist again and led her from the room.

_Asphalt Café_.

Freddie and Jade sat at their usual table; they had arrived before the others as their previous lesson had taken place in a room very close to the café.

"So, how are things between you and Tori?" he enquired amiably. Jade smirked.

"Shouldn't I be asking _you_ that?" she pried with a teasing grin.

"What do you mean?" He was genuinely curious.

"Oh come on," she was exasperated. "You can't have failed to notice her smiling and flirting at you every chance she gets. _Don't_ say she's just being friendly; you _know_ that it's got to be more than that."

He smiled softly but shrugged as he reflected quickly on the brunette's behaviour around him. "Maybe you're right; it doesn't mean anything's going on between us though."

"You're not interested?" she pressed, a little surprised; even she had to admit that the new student was a very pretty girl. Freddie sighed.

"I haven't really been looking," he conceded. "Things are better for me and I'm finally _really_ moving on from Lindsey and what happened to me but I haven't been on the look-out for a new relationship or anything like that. Yeah, Tori's a nice girl but if there's been flirting then it's all been one way," he turned back to his lunch.

Jade bit her tongue a little; fortunately any further talk on the subject was postponed due to the arrival of Beck and André.

"Hey babe," the Canadian actor greeted his girl with a cheek kiss as he passed her to take a seat on her left. "Freddie," he nodded across the table to his co-star.

"Hey Beck; are we still on for fencing tonight?"

"Definitely; I can't wait," he enthused at the thought of pursuing one of his hobbies; it was always one of the highlights of the week for the guys. "André?"

"Nah, I can't, I'm going over to Tori's to help her learn her songs for tomorrow."

"You'd hope that she'd know them all by now with us being so close to opening night," Jade commented in concern; she may not have the lead but it would reflect badly on all of them – and the school – if the lead actress floundered on opening night, especially in front of the playwright responsible. "How about you guys? Good to go?"

Beck nodded as did Freddie, though he was a little less committal. "I'm pretty much there; I just need to try and keep them in my head _and_ have room for all the tech theatre stuff. I can't believe they scheduled my exam in it for tomorrow!"

"You haven't even taken the class," André pointed out, "how are you doing the exam?"

"I know most of it inside and out from doing _iCarly_," he explained calmly.

"Awesome, you can help me out; I'm going to take it first semester next year," the songsmith piped up.

"No problem," his friend smiled before continuing with his explanation. "There were one or two things that I've needed to practice and cram – and obviously I've gone through the text book and one or two of the past exams so I know pretty much what I need to do. I just wish they'd put it on a different day, but they can only schedule it when the theatre isn't in use I guess."

Cat and Tori joined them at this point; the red-haired girl was, as usual, bubbling over with enthusiasm.

"Hey, Cat, you seem happy," Freddie smiled.

"And _you_ really, really don't," Jade observed, eyeing Tori. Beck scowled slightly at the vindictive pleasure he thought he could detect in his girlfriend's voice.

"Tori's going to be my make-up model tonight!" Cat exclaimed happily. The others exchanged slightly horrified glances.

"Tonight? Our play _opens_ tomorrow," Jade reminded her. "Are you going to have enough _time_ to do that, along with learning your lines, songs and _everything_."

"Yeah, sure," Tori insisted, though her voice lacked confidence. "André and I are going over to mine straight after school; we'll have a few hours to get everything done before Cat shows up."

"I've got a _bad_ feeling about this," Freddie muttered to Jade; she nodded her agreement.

_Swordplay Fencing Studio, __416 S Victory Blvd, Burbank, CA_

The two teenagers had finished their respective classes (Beck was just about done with the beginners' course now while Freddie was working his way rapidly through the advanced lessons, earning praise from the instructors for being their 'star pupil') and were enjoying a light spar as a warm-down. As always when they had a friendly 'battle' Freddie was going easy on his friend but was still much, much too good for him. Finally Beck pleaded fatigue, along with a desire to go over his lines a couple of times this evening with the play opening the next night (a sentiment that Freddie shared), and the two sat on one of the benches, retrieving bottles of water from their equipment bags.

"That was great; you're really coming on well with it," Freddie complemented the taller teen.

"Thanks; I'm still nowhere near as good as you," Beck replied.

"Well you're not descended from a Master fencer," he shrugged, grinning at the other.

"Freddie," Beck began cautiously, "is everything alright between Jade and Tori? I mean, I know that you two are close and… I was just wondering if she'd said anything to you. One minute she's got a black eye from Tori hitting her, the next they seem to be almost friendly; and you and I both know that is _not_ like Jade."

Freddie quickly deliberated on how to respond; he didn't want to say or suggest anything that might make things awkward for the dark brunette.

"Dude, she's _your_ girlfriend; why don't you ask her?" he suggested.

"I did; she just said that they'd reached an understanding and things were fine."

"Shouldn't you take her at her word then?" Freddie suggested with a patient grin.

"It's just that… you know Jade; the whole 'if you cross me I will get you back in a way that makes you sorry for a long time' of hers. It could be very awkward if she starts on Tori with that sort of chizz, given we're all in so many classes together."

"They both seem fine with one another so we should probably leave it at that for now and let them sort things out between themselves," Freddie commented evenly. "Anyway, I'd better go," he added, having glanced at a wall-mounted clock, "I have to learn the last few of my lines and finish studying for my tech theatre exam tomorrow afternoon."

"Dude, why are you bugging? You know more about it than the teacher does – that's why you didn't have to take the class."

"You _should_ be right, but I still want to be prepared for it."

"I guess," Beck agreed with a shrug and they headed for the locker room.

_Vega Residence_

_The Slap_

_Tori Vega: Turkey sandwich = YAY! Monster makeup = WHY?!_

_Mood = Anxious_

After chatting on the phone with Danny and making plans to see him after watching the play the next night, Cat set out for her friend's house; arrived there just before 8, armed with her make-up supplies and rang the doorbell to be admitted.

"Make-up time!" she smiled with a quick raise of her eyebrows as Tori opened the door.

"Hey Cat," her reluctant brunette model greeted her.

"Where should I set up?" she asked her; Tori suggested the kitchen table.

"Oh I love kitchens!" she cried happily. "Hey André," she greeted the songsmith as she scampered merrily through the house; as he had told the guys over lunch he was here helping Tori rehearse the songs for her play; they seemed fairly confident that she was going to be ok with them.

"What's up Little Red?" he asked distractedly.

"What's _THAT_ supposed to mean?" she yelped, spinning to face him.

"I don't know… Little Red – you're little and you've got red hair?" he suggested.

"Oh that's so creative; do Tori now," she urged him with an excited clap.

"Can we just get this whole monster makeup thing over with?" Tori pleaded.

"Sure, let's get started. Hey, can André be my assistant?"

"You can ask him," the other girl suggested.

"Hey André, do you want to help me put monster makeup on Tori's face?"

"Bye," he shot out of the door, ostensibly to fetch a pizza for himself and Tori. The two girls looked at one another.

"Maybe he had to use the bathroom," Cat speculated.

"In my front yard?" Tori was bewildered by the suggestion.

"Well sometimes my brother…" she began.

"Make-up time!" Tori interrupted, not in the mood for one of the girl's anecdotes; Cat spent the next half-hour or so feverishly working to apply make-up to her friend; she was unrecognisable by the time the girl was done.

* * *

Cat rushed to her friend holding a mirror with the reflective surface to her chest.

"Are you ready?" she enquired.

"Yep, show me me," the singer-actress agreed. To her amazement she looked like a zombie, with a grey, wrinkled face.

"Wow, look at me, I'm hideous," she failed to keep the surprise from her voice.

"Oh, you really think so?" Cat was delighted with the feedback.

"Yeah, I totally look like a zombie," Tori enthused.

"Yay, I'm not a failure," she was even more giddy than usual with relief.

"Let's go scare my sister," Tori whispered evilly. Cat agreed and they rushed to the foot of the stairs. "Trina, come see something," she called up.

"Is it for me?" the elder Vega drawled.

"Yeah, sure," Tori muttered, standing out of sight of anyone coming down the stair case.

Trina jogged down the stairs, where she only saw Cat.

"Where's Tori? Oh, did they deliver my vibrating hairbrush?" Cat pulled a perplexed face in response.

Tori leapt out, growling at the older girl who stood there calmly, merely looking confused as to why her sister was made up in such a fashion

"Oh come on; how could you not be scared by this?" the younger sibling asked in exasperation.

"I've seen our grandmother naked," Trina explained. "_Nothing_ scares me anymore."

"Come on, let me get some pics of your face," Cat urged.

"Ok," Tori made to join the girl in the kitchen again.

"I want some apple juice," Trina noted.

"Then go get some," Tori suggested.

"Fine, I'll do it myself," she groaned theatrically and left the other two girls, one posing, one photographing until she happened across something that drew her attention. "Uh, what is this for?" she held up a small bottle.

"Oh that's glue," Cat was nonchalant.

"Yeah but why is it with your make-up supplies," she pressed.

"What's the problem?" Tori asked.

"This is _Grizzly Glue_," Trina explained, "it's like an industrial cement."

"Huh?" Tori's tone was flat but worried.

"Cat, tell me you didn't use this on Tori's face," Trina pleaded with her as Tori raced across the living area to her sister's side.

"Give me that. For industrial use only. Caution: Avoid contact with skin. Cat!" she wailed.

"Why didn't you use dermaglue?" Trina demanded, wondering why someone _wouldn't_ use the specially designed make-up adhesive.

"I ran out, so I got that out of my dad's toolbox." Cat admitted sheepishly.

"Are you insane?!" the older sister fired at her.

"Will it come off?" Tori asked in worry.

"I don't know," her sister conceded.

"Why didn't you read the label?" she rounded on the red velvet-haired girl.

"'Cause I got distracted by the picture of the cute grizzly bear. I mean, look at him, he's like a fuzzy little..." Cat began to gush.

"Hey!" Tori interrupted her musings.

"I'm sorry," she apologised.

"Now what do we do?" the frustrated actress wondered.

After a few seconds of attempting to remove it with standard make-up remover they conceded that it wasn't going to work. André had returned in mid-argument and fled unnoticed.

"I'll call Doctor Doty," Trina took charge. "Cat, you call Grizzly Industries – maybe they have a solvent that will get it off of her."

"'kay 'kay." The two girls went for their phones while Tori buried her head in her hands.

Ten minutes later Trina rung off with the doctor; he had been unable to provide her with any ideas for removing the make-up from her sister's face. Cat, meanwhile, was still talking as the increasingly nervous sisters eavesdropped on her side of the conversation.

"Really? You do?" Cat asked in excited tones.

"They do? They do what? What do they do?" Tori pressed, hopeful that there may just be some good news.

"They make a solvent that's safe for skin."

"Well, where do we get it?" she pressed.

"I dunno," Cat shrugged.

"Ask the man!"

"It's a lady," she whispered.

"Ask her," Tori's exasperation was growing again.

"Hi, Gail, it's Cat, yeah. Where can I buy the solvent? Uh huh, uh huh, okay, bye."

Ignoring the expectant Vegas the red-haired girl sat lost in her own little world after hanging up.

"Well?" Tori demanded.

"Oh, they don't sell it in stores."

"But...well, then..." the zombie-faced girl stammered.

"We just have to drive to Grizzly Industries and get it there," she calmly informed her.

"Okay, so where's Grizzly?"

"Bakersfield," Cat replied.

"Bakersfield?" Tori repeated.

"Relax, that's only like two hours from here. I could drive you there tomorrow," Trina offered.

"When?" her little sister demanded. "I have school until 3:00, then I have final rehearsal and then I have to do the play."

"Calm down," Cat urged. "After school, I'll go with Trina to Bakersfield, pick up the solvent, drive back and get the makeup off your face before the play starts."

"Okay, okay, that sounds..." Tori was interrupted by the doorbell. "Augh, who's that?" she wondered. "What?!" She opened the door to two girl sprouts who were selling cookies door-to-door; the little girls screamed and ran away.

"Wait, I want cookies," she pleaded.

_Asphalt Café_.

_Friday, 19__th__ March 2010_.

Again Freddie and Jade found themselves alone at a table waiting for their friends.

"Can you believe what happened to Tori?" Jade shook her head.

"Unfortunately, with it being Cat, I can," he chuckled darkly. Jade shrugged a little, forced to concede his point. "What I _don't_ understand is why she didn't just blow off school this morning, get the solvent, get it all sorted out and _then_ come back for the play; that's what I'd have done."

"_You _wouldn't have let Cat do that in the first place," she grinned at him. He chuckled again, a bit more lightly this time.

"Very true; I gave her every excuse under the sun to get out of being her make-up model this week. How did you get out of it without hurting her feelings?" He knew Jade was Cat's best friend; she was the obvious first choice.

"Cat has known me for _years_," the dark brunette smirked. "She's learnt not to ask me for things like that." They laughed again. "So anyway, are you all set for the play?" the gothic girl asked him.

"I will be; I _just_ have the tech theatre exam to get through first then I can kick that all out of my brain and focus on the play. You?"

"Oh yes," she replied confidently. "I even have _Tori's_ lines down too, just in case she can't go on with her face like that. Of course, I hope it won't come to that," she concluded unconvincingly; Freddie grinned at her again.

"How are things between the two of you? Do you think you'll ever actually be friends?"

"Real friends? I don't know," the gothic girl's tone was thoughtful as she brushed her pink hair extensions to one side, "but we get on fine now and she hasn't held a grudge over the whole Stage Fighting thing – which is probably more than I deserve," she admitted quietly.

"And what about you and Beck? He spoke to me yesterday after we'd been fencing, you know; he's a little concerned about the you-and-Tori thing too. I suggested he actually speak to _you_ about it," Freddie added with a boyish smirk well in place.

"That _would_ make sense," she agreed with a laugh. "Things with us are good, I think. I just wish he'd overtly take my side a bit more often."

"I can't do much about that – except suggest that you tell _him _that; I'm glad to hear that things are generally good though," Freddie nodded and they returned to their lunch as the others began to arrive.

_Black Box Theatre_

School had ended and the kids were just completing their final rehearsal ahead of the opening performance of the play in a couple of hours' time.

"_Suddenly I can see what I didn't before – and I don't care what they say anymore 'cause I'm falling, falling, finally falling, falling,_" the cast, led by Tori, sang to conclude the last song.

"5...6...7...8," Lane finished; he was choreographing for them.

"That was dynamite," Marty enthused. "Now, everyone, go get some water, hydrate and rest up for the show. Tori," he turned to his leading lady.

"Yeah, what's up?" she asked nonchalantly.

"Your face; it's still hideous."

"I know, but my sister and Cat are already on their way back here from Bakersfield with the solvent," she assured her teacher.

"You're sure?" He wanted confirmation.

"Uh...totally, yes," she hoped to convince him.

"All right," he left her to check on the others; Freddie was far less convinced. He was in high spirits after feeling that he had aced the tech theatre exam earlier in the day but seeing Tori's face still made up the way it was concerned him.

"Tori, I don't mean to insult your sister…" the Seattle-born actor began cautiously.

"Oh no, please do!" the zombie-faced teen interrupted in a frustrated voice; she was feeling rather annoyed with the pair of them at the moment as they had been a little late setting off due to Trina gossiping with her friends right after school.

"Well," he continued, "it's just that she's… well, she's Trina." He could think of no better way of putting it. "And don't get me wrong, I love Cat – you know we used to date, briefly?" Tori gave a curt nod, having learned this little nugget of information during her weeks at Hollywood Arts. "She's not the most reliable of girls," he continued delicately, "so do you _really_ trust those two to deliver the solvent here on time?"

"Oh chizz," the girl groaned as she palmed her forehead. She brooded for a few moments before turning to him with as much of a smile as she could muster under the monster make-up. "So you love Cat then?" She nudged his arm gently with her elbow.

"I meant as a friend," he responded awkwardly.

"Yeah, right," she said lightly and playfully bumped his shoulder. "I'd better call my sister," she changed the subject and reached for her phone; as they had done a dress rehearsal this meant dashing to the changing rooms.

_Trina's car, en route to Grizzly Industries, Bakersfield_.

"Oh, I think that's your phone." Cat told Trina as the ringtone sounded; the two girls were making slow progress to Bakersfield as Trina was spending more time applying her make-up than watching the road, to the chagrin of other road users.

"I know, find it," the elder Vega instructed. Cat began to hunt for the device. "Come on, come on! Look under the seat."

"You're bossy," the younger girl complained.

"Ow, watch the girls," the driver lamented as the other wriggled under the seat, the consequence being her feet were dangerously close to the older girl's breasts.

"Found your phone," the red-head raised it in triumph.

"Then answer it," Trina urged.

"Hi, Trina's phone," Cat received the call.

"Are you on your way back with the solvent? Tell me you're on the way back," Tori pleaded as she walked back onto the stage; she was now only a couple of feet away from Freddie, who listened with interest and concern.

"Who's calling?" Cat feigned innocence.

"It's Tori," the girl stated obviously and in mounting frustration.

"Oh, hey Tori," Cat greeted her.

"Oh, put her on speaker," Trina requested.

"Kay-Kay. Tori, you're on speaker. Trina is also in the car."

"Where are you guys?" she demanded.

"Relax, we're almost at the factory."

"The fact... You're not even there yet? The show starts in like two hours," she complained. By her shoulder Freddie palmed his face.

"We'll make it," Trina insisted.

"Oh, punch buggy blue," Cat called, punching her friend's arm.

"Ow, Dude," she punched her back.

"Listen to me. If you two morons aren't back here before the play starts and I have to go on stage looking like a zombie, I'm gonna punch _both_ your buggies. Do you understand?" She rang off huffily. "What?" she snapped at the grinning Freddie.

"I'm just amused," he shrugged. "You called Cat and your sister 'you two morons' and neither of them even thought of disputing it with it."

Even the annoyed girl had to laugh along with this, despite her steadily mounting anxiety. However there was another matter that she wanted to discuss; she was actually glad about it as it meant she could have a distraction from her own troubles. "Freddie," she began in a questioning tone as they took seats backstage, bottles of water in hand, "how come you don't have a girlfriend?"

The boy looked at her in confusion at the apparently random and certainly personal question.

"I mean, you're a really cute guy," she persisted, "you're really sweet and most of the girls here seem to swoon over you… especially my sister." Tori said the last three words with a hint of regretful disgust in her voice. "So why are you single – you have been since I got here over a month ago; hard to think a catch like _you_ would be on the market this long and not show interest in _somebody_ here… or anywhere else, yet you never mention a special girl at all."

The brown-haired boy took a deep breath as he pondered exactly how much of an answer he was prepared to give his new friend. He decided to open up to her and began to recount some of the events surrounding his relationship with Lindsey, though he kept the blonde's name out of it and merely talked about being in an eight month long relationship with a girl – not Cat, he went to lengths to clarify – and spoke of how it was his first really serious relationship (again, he didn't say just _how_ serious) and how it ended badly, the reasons she gave that he soon suspected were just excuses, how it still hurt when she called him with the news about the Showcase, how he still aimed to avoid her around school when possible, how he had had to process everything that happened with them, how it was only _very_ recently that in talking to an adult friend he was starting to really get over it and how it had really shaken his trust in romantic relationships in general.

"It's been six months?" he asked rhetorically. "The night before school started last September, and I still haven't found myself able to put my trust in another person; some of the scars just refuse to heal."

"She hurt you bad," Tori whispered in sympathy, taking his hand gently.

"She didn't so much break my heart as take a sledgehammer to it, shatter it and leave the pieces strewn around Hollywood," he whispered sadly, then brightened a little. "So how about you? How come there's no boyfriend for Tori?" he was eager to change the subject and turned things around on her.

"Because I look like a zombie, remember?" she pointed to her face and laughed; she was keen to dodge that particular point as she was in the middle of a frustratingly lengthy 'dry spell' of her own. He joined in a brief chuckle before turning to face her with a small smile.

"_And beautiful is all I see_," he sang softly but sincerely, causing the brunette to nervously try to laugh it off.

"Does Cat know that you love her?" Tori was persistent with this.

"No," he sighed in resignation, realising that she wasn't going to believe his denials. "I'm not sure that I'm ready to put myself out there again and it wouldn't be fair to drop it on her if I'm not sure that I'm prepared to follow it through."

She slipped her arm around his waist and pulled him close. The two sat in comfortable silence; though their problems were vastly different, right now they both centred on the little girl with vivid red hair.

_The Slap_

* * *

_Mobile_

_Tori Vega: Never send Trina and Cat to do ANYTHING!_

_Mood= Desperate_

The auditorium was beginning to fill up with people as curtain call approached; there was still no sign of Cat, Trina or solvent and Tori was getting more and more nervous – so, too, was Marty. However he had something else to distract him as the evening's VIP entered the theatre.

"Hi, Miss Michelle. I'm Marty, the director. Pleasure to meet you," he greeted her.

"Sophia," she replied.

"Oh, I'm Lane, big fan," the Guidance Counsellor was also in attendance and met the playwright.

"Well there she is," Freddie peered through the curtains as the writer took a seat in the front row.

"Oh, my God, It's Sofia Michelle," Beck whispered_. _

"Tori?" Marty wailed at his female star.

"I know, but they're still not back with the solvent," she explained weakly.

"Well, we're on in two minutes and you still look disgusting."

"I know it's not ideal but I could play the lead if it comes to it," Jade offered.

"No, we don't have anyone else to play your part," he declined.

"You never cast any understudies?" Freddie was surprised by the short-sightedness of such an experienced acting teacher.

"Do something," he ignored the boy's question and focused on the made-up girl.

"But what do you want me...?" she groaned and called her sister again.

_Trina's Car, en route to Hollywood Arts_.

"Hi, Tori," Cat answered in bubbly tones.

"Where are you?! Where's my solvent?!" she pressed.

"Ah, we have it right here," the girl was holding it and waved it at the phone, not that there was any point as they weren't video-chatting.

"Put her on speaker," Trina commanded. "What's up sister?" she asked when Cat had done. Both girls held ice creams.

"The curtain's going to be up in 90 seconds and I'm still freaky in the face. Why aren't you here?" she demanded; the two exchanged guilty looks.

"We had a little bit of an emergency," Trina explained.

"What kind of emergency?" Tori demanded.

"A creamy delicious one?" was the best Cat could improvise.

"You stopped for ice cream?" the younger sister was incredulous at their decision, knowing that time was of the essence.

"We had to. There was a Freezie Queen in Bakersfield," Cat said, as if it explained and justified their decision.

"Then how far away are you?"

"Just like 40 minutes," Trina assured before a police siren was heard; the two girls in the car turned to look at one another.

"You, in the red vehicle..." a policeman called over his speaker.

"Maybe an hour?" she amended weakly as the two looked nervously at one another again.

"Pull over to the side of the road," the cop ordered.

On the other end of the phone Tori closed her eyes and slumped against the wall in resignation; Freddie watched sympathetically from across the backstage area before palming his forehead and shaking his head in resignation; he wondered how on earth this play was going to unfold, particularly in front of its author, with the leading lady looking like she did.

* * *

"So I'm on my private jet almost half way to Barcelona," Beck was regaling one of his character's lackeys (played by Robbie) with a tale of his wealthy indulgences, "When I say to the pilot, I've changed my mind, take a left; we're going to Prague."

The curly-haired ventriloquist laughed sycophantically. "You're too much."

"Aren't I?" Beck retorted smugly as Freddie, dressed as a bellboy, picked up the cases left by the two other actors' chairs.

"Hey, hey, hey, you there," Beck began in scolding tones.

"Yes, sir?" Freddie responded politely.

"That luggage is very expensive. Don't just toss it around like a monkey," he complained.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Beck's friend distracted him. "Check out the girl coming this way."

"Oh, my God, she's gorgeous," Beck revelled.

"She's beautiful," Freddie whispered as Tori, still in zombie make-up, entered the scene; the audience, including the celebrity playwright, gasped as one at her appearance. Backstage and out of sight, Jade was torn between amusement at the girl's predicament and embarrassment for its reflection on the rest of them and the school.

_Trina's Car, en route to Hollywood Arts_.

Having dealt with the cop, and had to accept a ticket, Trina and Cat were back on their way to the school; they sang along with the radio in surprisingly high spirits given that they had just been ticketed, along with urgency of the situation that Trina's little sister found herself in. They were making slow but serene progress back to school.

* * *

"Just say you'll marry me," Beck demanded hotly of Tori.

"Excuse me, but most women don't want to be screamed at when they're being proposed to," she replied argumentatively.

"I'm rich, I'm handsome, I have nine boats!" he snapped as if it was the be-all and end-all. "Stop acting like a stupid girl!"

"Wait, you got a little something right there," she interrupted.

"What?"

"This," she swung and, making sure that she _definitely _missed this time, pretended to deliver a blow to Beck's jaw. He slumped to the ground and the spotlights illuminated her and Freddie.

"_Suddenly my choice is clear,_" she began, turning to her co-star, "_I knew when only you and I were standing here_."

"_And beautiful is all I see,_" he continued before she joined him and together they sang, "I_t's only you, I know it's true, it has to be_."

Tori continued to sing while her co-stars danced around them until Jade spotted Trina and Cat in the wings; they were gesticulating wildly in their friends' direction. She caught Freddie's eye and he pointed them out subtly to Tori. She managed to dance off the stage, having first encouraged André and the band to play an instrumental interlude to cover her absence.

"We brought you Freezie Queen," Cat offered the ice cream to her; she slapped it away.

"Just get this muck off my face," she demanded.

"Get it off her face," Lane echoed.

"Okay!" Cat squealed.

"Hurry; I'm missing the song," she urged.

"It's coming, it's coming," the girls had almost cleared her face.

Finally she was ready to go back on stage, looking once more like Tori Vega, to loud cheers from the audience, particularly Lane and Marty.

"_I don't need all the finer things; diamond rings are nothing so show me something,"_

She turned to Freddie, took his hand and continued, "'_Cause love is all I need, all I ever wanted and now I've got it. My friends are wondering what you're thinking – and your friends, they probably think the same thing. Well it doesn't matter if we change their minds. _

_Suddenly I can see what I didn't before, and I don't care what they say anymore 'cause I'm falling, falling, finally falling, falling_."

The song ended with the leads holding hands and their faces only a couple of inches apart; Tori was unable to prevent herself going off script and leaning in to plant a quick peck on Freddie's lips. Tumultuous applause, however, prevented any further processing of the event, though Freddie was looking curiously from the corner of his eye at the girl; she was shyly avoiding his gaze.

The cast retreated behind the curtain after taking their bow; once the auditorium was cleared the VIP playwright joined them on-stage.

"Well, that was an interesting performance. When I wrote that play, I certainly never pictured Penny as a freakish zombie during most of it," Sophia began.

"Oh, man, I'm out of pills," Marty complained quietly as the teens looked sheepishly around at one another.

"Look, I can explain," Tori began.

"You don't need to explain. I totally got it," the playwright smiled.

"You did? You do? She got it," Tori declared happily to her co-stars. "What did you get?" she turned back to their guest.

"The whole commentary on what's really beautiful. Having these two young men feel true love for a girl with a hideous face really emphasised the whole point of the play which is substance over beauty; the beauty within."

"Right," the students agreed weakly.

"Well, we're really glad you liked it," Freddie smiled at her.

"And the kiss at the end; not what I wrote but I _definitely _think it sealed the deal," she smiled broadly at the two young stars.

Tori looked uncomfortable; she tried to avoid Freddie's eye again (and those of everyone else) for a few moments. "Actually that was more me running on adrenaline and emotion after getting through opening night," she muttered.

"Well I thought it worked," Sofia enthused before checking her watch. "Oh, I have a late meeting that I need to run to but I hope to see another performance of it before I go back to New York next week. So for now, bye," she smiled at them and took her leave.

"Congratulations everyone. Now, before we go just a couple of..." began Marty before Sinjin set the disco lights and music going again.

"Don't fight it," he urged. The teens shrugged and shared a celebratory dance.

"Ok guys, get changed then there'll be a little after-party in my classroom," Marty informed them.

_Marty's Classroom_

Tori was still concerned about her friend's love-life, or lack thereof. She gathered a handful of nuts and nibbles, along with a wahoo punch, and tracked him down as he sat on his own with his own food and drink after sharing a quick dance with Jade (she was now dancing with Beck).

"You know, maybe the only way that you're ever going to _really_ heal the scars is by going through another relationship," the girl suggested as the party moved into full swing. She motioned to Cat, stood across the room laughing with Trina. "_You should tell her_," she urged. Freddie sat there uncertainly for a moment before nodding his head and squaring his jaw.

"You're right; it's finally time to put my heart out there again," he agreed with soft voice and stiff resolve. He rose to his feet in response to the brunette's encouraging nod. "Thanks," he whispered, giving her a gentle tap on the shoulder as he made to start across the room.

"Ooh," the girl in question piped up suddenly as her phone beeped. She drew the device from her pocket and looked at the message she had received, "it's from Daniel."

"Daniel?" Trina asked as Jade stopped dancing, turned to the red head and raised her pierced brow in interest. Freddie, having stood up, sank back to his seat again as Tori looked between her friends in abject dismay.

"You know, my boyfriend?" she said to Jade, looking surprised at her gothic friend's confusion. "The guy I met a few weeks ago while I was staying at my Nona's?" When this still yielded no sign of comprehension from the others the little red-head just persisted, "we're going out tonight and he's here to pick me up. See you Monday. Bye!" The girl was exuberant and dashed off without looking back.

"Freddie I'm sorry," Tori whispered as she took in the look on his face. "I wanted to make things better but I made them ten times worse for you!"

"No Tori," he contradicted firmly, forcing himself to smile at her a little, "you encouraged me and you were right about it all. I can't just stay shut up on my own forever. Maybe now it won't be Cat but I _do_ need to start looking again, rather than just letting the past colour my view on love for the rest of my life. There's got to be some girl out there worth me taking a chance on; I just need to find her," he finished with a small grin directed at her as he got to his feet again. "Want to dance?"

Tori returned the smile at his words and offered her hand, allowing him to lead them into a vacant patch in the middle of the classroom; she hoped that everything would turn out for the best for her new friend and a part of her, she realised (contrary to what she had told her mother and sister), wouldn't object to being the girl that he decided he should take a chance on.

* * *

**AN: Ok, I hope you all enjoyed that. It followed the episode mostly, given that Cat was in a lot of the scenes it had to really to keep it going. I hope the small changes and additional scenes have helped the story along somewhat. Please feel free to leave a review and let me know what you liked or didn't like and I hope to be back to my usual Thursday updates for next week; no promises though as next week's chapter is quite an important one. PD.**


	15. Chapter 15: Cat's New Boyfriends

**AN: Hello everyone and welcome to this latest chapter. I hope you are all well and have had a good week. As usual my thanks go out to those of you who read and reviewed last week's chapter.**

**Challenge King – yes we're seeing a little bit of Tori/Freddie growing closer as she integrates into the group and into life at Hollywood Arts; they're the boy-next-door/girl-next-door combination so it's not surprising that they get on well.**

**Fanfic-Reader-88 – As Tori's canon Slap update went: Never send Trina and Cat to do ANYTHING. Beck has his concerns; there are certainly issues for that couple to contend with.**

**Guest – I'm glad that you loved it. Tori and Jade got along better than canon because, unlike Dan, I didn't hit the reset button after Stage Fighting so their relationship has actually evolved a little already.**

**Pbow – The school probably should have rules for sharing lead roles around more fairly. In canon, though, Tori presumably never landed the**_** Moonlight Magic**_** lead as her resumé, in Beck falls for Tori, only contained one play (presumably **_**Uptown, Downtown**_**).**

**Agent-M - A little Teddie? I wouldn't mind that but, being me, I'd be very reluctant to break them up again if it happened.**

**OneHorseShay – yes Freddie and Jade are somewhat smarter than their peers so far; certainly both could take on that sort of a role for others when it was needed – despite Beck's ironic insistence on treating **_**Jade**_** like she was the child of the group. As I said to Agent M, me exploring Teddie? Moving beyond it would be the issue.**

**That's everyone, so just one more quick note - OneHorseShay updated _We Love Each Other_ last night; if you've not already done so you should check that out as well. Now for the next part of the story.**

* * *

Chapter 15: Cat's New Boyfriends.

_Benson Residence, Hollywood Hills, Los Angeles, California_

_Saturday, 20__th__ March 2010_.

Jade was relieved to spot Freddie's car in the driveway to his house; she blew out an irritated breath as she got out of her mother's car, headed up to the house and knocked on the front door. It had been a frustrating day for her as more than anything she had wanted to talk to the boy about the news that Cat had a boyfriend, particularly having spotted his reaction to the news from across the classroom the previous night; the brown-haired boy had been talking to Tori and was smiling before the red velvet-haired girl's announcement. Instantly she had seen his face fall and his demeanour change, though he continued to talk with the new student and seemed a little happier having done so; this was something else that intrigued his gothic friend.

Jade's quest to speak with her Seattle-born friend had been impeded by his, as usual for a Saturday, spending the whole day working at the Pear Store. She hadn't felt like disturbing him at work (suspecting that he was likely immersing himself in his job to avoid thinking about the news that they had received) and, anyway, she had wanted to have a word with Cat as well; when she actually stopped to think about it she was a little hurt that the previous night was the first she had heard about a new guy in her best friend's life – particularly one who the girl was openly describing as her 'boyfriend'. She had allowed herself one moment of satisfaction; Tori had seemed equally shocked by the news. At least, the dark haired girl reflected, this meant that one of her fears had not materialised; she had _not_ been replaced in that capacity by the half-Latina.

The little red head had been Jade's first port of call that morning; she arrived at the Valentine home shortly after 10 (knowing her friend to be a late riser on a weekend). She side-stepped the family's exuberant puppy before being directed upstairs by Cat's mother, who informed her that the girl hadn't come downstairs yet today. The gothic girl headed to her friend's room and knocked firmly on the door.

"Cat, are you up yet?"

"Uh," came a muffled voice, "yeah, just a sec."

Her best friend opened the door a few moments later, still dressed in her pyjamas and with her hair unusually untidy.

"Late night?" Jade teased with a smirk.

"Oh, it wasn't too bad; we went for some dinner and went to one of the clubs nearby for a bit. It was a good night," the cupcake loving teen smiled, opening the door just far enough for her friend to slip past her and into the room; she strode over to the window and opened the curtains, causing Cat to wince a little behind her as her eyes dealt with the rapid change in light. Jade sat on the end of her bed and turned towards her.

"So," she began. Cat noticed her mood and gave a nervous, sheepish smile and sat on the bed, though as far from the other girl as she could; she didn't know why but Jade's demeanour suggested that she was in trouble. "Why didn't you tell me you were seeing someone Cat?" She kept her tone curious but with a side of hurt; the other girl knotted her brow in confusion.

"Didn't I?" she asked, studying her friend's features. "I thought you knew all about Daniel."

"You've never mentioned him to me," Jade replied, shaking her head.

"I'm sorry," the shorter girl wailed. "I meant to; I guess it was just with," she shrugged, "everything else going on – mom, dad, my brother, moving to Nona's… I must have just forgotten."

Jade nodded; she had made her point so she didn't press it, though she still felt a little upset with her best friend. She changed subject. "So what about Freddie?"

"What do you mean?"

"I thought you still liked him, but now you're dating someone else."

"Oh. I was waiting but then I met Daniel and he's a nice guy, he bought me a smoothie, we talked and well… here we are," she finished with a giggle. Jade continued to present her with her best, piercing stare and she felt the need to elaborate, "I do like Freddie but I don't think he likes me anymore – so I've moved on to someone else I like and who likes me back. Is that so bad?" she finished.

"I guess not," Jade was forced to admit. "So when are you next seeing… Daniel?"

"Oh, tonight. I won't be able to make the play; we're seeing a movie and going out somewhere after. But we could hang this morning and maybe a little this afternoon before you have to go to school?" he suggested.

Jade nodded her agreement; she didn't have any other plans for the early part of the day.

* * *

After finishing work Freddie had gone straight to school to meet the rest of the cast for the second night of _Uptown, Downtown_. This time the play had gone off without a hitch, Tori's face had lacked the monster make-up of opening night and the performance was well received by a capacity audience in the Black Box theatre. True to her word Cat hadn't been there and Jade had been frustrated and disappointed to see that Freddie disappeared almost immediately after the show.

So now she stood outside Freddie's front door waiting to be granted admittance.

Unbeknown to the gothic girl Freddie had offered Tori a ride home after the play, the lighter brunette having sought him out for a talk on his mood after the previous night just before it started; she had accepted but, en route, the girl had asked to hang with him for a while rather than him just dropping her off and leaving (she, too, clearly wanted to make sure he was ok after the surprise news surrounding Cat's personal life). With Marissa on nights he had invited her to his place for a while (neither teen wanted to have to deal with Trina). Her presence was something of a surprise for Jade as she entered the house.

"Tori?"

"Hey Jade," the girl smiled before dropping her voice to a whisper as they approached one another. "I guess we had the same idea then."

"What do you mean?" she matched the other girl's vocal volume but raised her re-pierced eyebrow (having removed the jewellery, and her hair extensions, for the performance) as they spoke; she suspected Tori's interests in the boy weren't 'just' friendly.

"Cheering Freddie up after finding out about Cat's new boyfriend," Tori spoke as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"I guess so," Jade agreed, relieved but not fully convinced.

"Are you girls hungry?" the boy asked, joining them in the living room. "I haven't eaten since lunchtime so I'm starved."

"I could eat," Tori agreed.

"Pizza and a movie?" Jade suggested. "You call them and I'll pick it up."

They agreed; Tori surprised Jade (and herself a little) by offering to go with her to collect them.

"So what do we know about this guy?" she pressed the driver as they pulled away from the Benson home.

"I've no idea," Jade admitted, "I haven't met him."

"But you and Cat must have talked," she persisted. "You _are_ best friends."

"She never mentioned him to me before last night: I think even _she_ was surprised when she realised that – but no, she never said anything about him to me."

The pair returned shortly afterwards and the three teenagers were soon settling down to a nice horror flick (Jade's choice, inevitably) with a couple of pizza boxes open on the coffee table. Unfortunately for Jade she soon felt that her choice of movie could prove counter-productive to her long-term goal; it wasn't lost on the dark brunette that Tori was terrified by certain moments of the film. Far from taking pleasure in that fact, Jade noticed that she was holding tightly to Freddie's arm and trying to bury her head behind his arm at the scary bits.

"That was a good night," the lighter-haired girl gave a relieved smile as the film ended; the time was approaching eleven and they felt that the night needed to end, particularly with a matinee performance the following day.

"It was, thanks girls, I really enjoyed it," Freddie told them. "Do you need me to run you home, Jade?"

"No, I borrowed mom's car," she replied. He did, however, drive Tori back to her place and prepared to say goodnight in the doorway to her home.

"I hope I didn't hurt your arm too bad," the new girl was embarrassed thinking back on her reaction to the movie.

"It's fine," he gestured the arm towards her, "can't see any bruises," he finished with his boyish smirk in place before dropping it and turning serious. "Thank you for tonight, I appreciated the company."

"I enjoyed it," Tori insisted. "Goodnight Freddie," she whispered, giving him a quick hug before heading inside her home.

_Hollywood Arts High School._

_Monday, 22__nd__ March 2010_.

The warning bell had just rung, encouraging students to get to class for their first class of the day as Daniel walked through the main door; he was looking around, slightly lost, as he passed the lockers. Suddenly he spotted Tori; they both yelped in surprise.

"Danny," she greeted him weakly.

" Hey!" he sounded equally stunned. "You go to school here?"

" Yeah, you know I left Sherwood," she pointed out.

" Right, but I just didn't know where..." He looked around them, "I mean isn't this school for like talented kids who... " He stopped at the look on her face. "Ah... I did not mean…" he tried to apologise.

"No, no, keep talking; you're doing great," she replied sarcastically.

"Sorry."

"It's, it's cool," she laughed it off.

"So when did you get into performing?" He knew that she had never tried for a part in anything that Sherwood school had put on during their mutual time there; the girl began to try and explain the events of the Big Showcase.

"Oh, see, my sister's tongue got all big and swollen and here I am." Fortunately further floundering discussion was interrupted by the arrival of Beck and Jade.

"So who's that?" Jade asked curiously.

"Uh, this is Danny," her fellow brunette introduced the boy.

"Hey," he greeted the couple.

"'Sup," Beck returned.

"How do you guys know each other?" Jade was curious as to why the boy was talking to her.

"He goes to my old school," she explained.

"Sherwood," Danny supplied.

"He, he was my boyfriend," Tori continued in a slightly embarrassed tone.

"Girlfriend," the black-haired boy added, pointing at her.

"So why did you two break up?" Jade's eyes glinted mischievously.

"Jade..." her boyfriend warned.

"Can I guess? I can think of a LOT of reasons!" She grinned evilly at her 'rival', though the look and tone lacked any real malice.

"Uh actually..." Danny began.

"You don't have to..." she interrupted but he pressed on.

"Tori broke up with me."

"Oh," Jade was rather surprised to learn this. "So how did you celebrate?" The grin was back in place as Tori frowned at her.

"Jade," Beck chided. "So, what are you doing here?" he tried to change the direction of the conversation quickly.

"Yeah, what are you doing here?" It hadn't occurred to Tori to wonder that before now.

"Well," he began by way of explanation, "I've been dating this girl that, you know, goes here for the last few weeks and, uh, I was supposed to meet her..."

He was interrupted by an all too familiar female, high-pitched squeal.

"Daniel!" Cat cried, racing down the stairs to them and leaping into his arms.

"Hey, babe," and he kissed her.

"This is the guy I told you about after the play the other night. My boyfriend," she told them proudly.

"Ohh," Tori groaned.

"THAT'S Daniel?" Jade muttered.

"Daniel, these are my friends: Beck, Jade and that's Tori," the red-head introduced them.

"Yeah, we've met," Tori retorted flatly.

"Really, you know Daniel?"

"Oh, she knows Daniel." In spite of the situation, Jade smirked at Tori's discomfort.

"I'm confused," the red-head complained.

"Cat, um, I used to go to Sherwood, with Danny before I came to school here," Tori explained.

"Oh, so you guys were friends?"

"Yeah, they were good friends," Jade grinned, putting an arm on each's shoulder.

"I'm confused," Cat repeated.

"Danny and I used to date," Tori admitted.

"Uhhh," Cat gasped.

Beck, unaware of the whole story and simply seeing his girlfriend seemingly revelling in the situation suggested, "Hey, why don't we walk over to some other location?" and dragged an increasingly annoyed looking Jade towards the vending machines. Again the dark brunette was drawing unfavourable comparisons between her boyfriend and her close male friend.

"Okay, wait. So you and Tori were like..." Cat began.

"Girlfriend," Danny pointed at her again.

"Boyfriend," Tori returned the gesture.

"So..." Cat muttered awkwardly.

"Please don't feel weird about this," Danny urged his girlfriend.

"You really shouldn't. I mean, we broke up a year ago," Tori told her.

"Yeah, it's, it's been a year," he echoed.

"It's only been eleven months," the brunette snapped in annoyance.

"What difference does it make?" he demanded.

"Forget it," she shot. "The point is, I'm totally cool with you guys dating."

"And I'm totally cool that you two are friends."

"Well, okay then. It's all happy," Cat smiled.

"Yay," Tori didn't sound totally convinced.

Jade, meanwhile, was watching the conversation and thinking,_ I need to find a way of ending this so she and Freddie can get back together_. She was distracted, however, by Beck claiming her lips and pulling her into a kiss.

"So how did you guys meet?" Tori asked the new couple, only to turn to them and see them making out. She turned to Beck and Jade. "Hey, do you guys want to go..." only to see them similarly engaged. "Yeah. I... Okay," she walked off and came across Freddie by his locker.

"Hey Tori, what's upsetting you?" he asked curiously as he observed the look on her face.

"I found out who Cat's new boyfriend is," she explained.

"Oh?"

"Yeah," and she pointed to the pair, still in lip-lock. "Danny. My _ex-_boyfriend from my old school."

"Oh," he muttered again, uncomfortably this time. "Well it's not like you can claim 'girl code' or anything is it if they met without knowing the whole story."

"No, but it's still a little awkward – especially if we might all end up hanging together."

"Cat and I dated for a while; no awkwardness for us hanging together," he shrugged. "Well, not anymore," he amended. "You'll figure it out in time."

She gave him a grateful smile, though he could see the doubt etched on her face. "Walk you to class," he offered her his arm. Her smile broadened as she took it and they headed to first period together (Cat was conspicuous by her absence during the lesson; they assumed that she and Danny had decided to blow off school for the day).

Robbie had been running slightly late this morning (he blamed Rex for oversleeping, something that the puppet vehemently denied). He happened upon Trina Vega, leaning casually against the bannister by the stairs; to the ventriloquists confusion there were a number of students gathered around her rubbing her right foot.

"That's right, feel it," she urged them.

"Wow," one student enthused.

"Like a cloud," another was in awe.

"It's like butter," a third commented.

"Yeah, I know. Doesn't my foot feel sweet?" Trina was, typically, encouraging the attention.

"Totally," a fourth, equally impressed, student agreed.

"Like a baby's butt, right?" the diva grinned.

Further foot fondling was halted by the ringing of the late bell.

"Oh, bye! Later guys," she called as the crowd departed, leaving just her, Robbie and Rex.

"Uh, why were they all feeling your foot?" the curly haired sophomore asked curiously.

"I could explain it, but I'll just let the foot do the talking. Feel it," she urged him, waving the appendage in his direction.

"What?" he was bewildered.

"Feel my foot," she repeated, almost as a demand.

"Feel the girl's foot, man," ordered Rex.

"Okay, but I don't see what the whole big deal about it." He bent down and ran his hand over the sole of her foot. "Whoa, smooth foot!"

"I know," she replied with a cocky smirk.

"Wow! Ooo-wee. Man, that is some creamy foot," Rex agreed. Under Robbie's direction he, too, was 'feeling' the elder Vega's foot.

"How'd you get your foot to feel like that?" Robbie was intrigued.

"Fish," she replied. Tiny, little fish."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Rex called as Robbie gave Trina a confused look; she smiled and nodded at him.

_Beck Oliver's RV_.

_Tuesday, 23__rd__ March 2010_.

Jade leant back against the couch; her eyes were closed as she and Beck exchanged tender kisses. She sighed contentedly against his mouth as he brought his right hand up to caress her cheek; his left arm was wrapped around her waist with her hands resting against his sides. _This is the way to spend an evening_, she thought.

"Is everything ok?" Beck asked cautiously as they paused for breath.

"Yes, why wouldn't it be?" she asked tersely.

"You just seemed… upset when we met Danny yesterday," he observed. "And you were sniping at Tori worse than you usually do," he added a little darkly.

"I _don't_ snipe at her," Jade shot back, anger rising a fraction. "We got off to a bad start; the _incidents_ in Sikowitz's class and everything that went on with that. We cleared the air though over the whole her-hitting-me-with-a-cane thing and we talked afterwards." She still had not admitted to her boyfriend that she had faked the whole thing; Freddie wasn't going to betray her either. "I got her out of her punishments don't forget," she reminded him triumphantly.

"But you don't like Danny," he pressed.

"It surprised me," she admitted. "I didn't expect Cat to be dating someone without telling me – and to find out he's Tori's ex-boyfriend… it's just a little awkward." She sighed, less contentedly this time, under his questioning look, "And yes, it is fun to get under Tori's skin a little," she conceded with a smirk, "she knows I don't mean it though – we're good."

She got up, feeling that the mood was ruined for the night after his pressing and near-interrogation. "I'll see you tomorrow," she smiled, leaning in to give him one last kiss before striding across to the door and leaving, rather to his surprise at the abruptness of her departure.

"Bye," he muttered after her.

_Asphalt Café._

_Friday, 26__th__ March 2010_.

There were two surprises for Jade as she and Beck crossed the car park on arrival at school. The first was that Freddie's car was nowhere to be seen; this was unusual as he always beat the couple in.

"I wonder where he is," she commented as a lengthier look around still failed to yield the boy's car.

"Maybe he's just running late today," Beck shrugged; his girlfriend's concern for the short-haired teen was beginning to irritate him more and more as she persisted with it – it was a level of concern she never seemed to show for anybody else, apart from Cat on occasion.

The second surprise was a more pleasant one for the girl; Freddie had, as usual, been the first to arrive at school today and was sat at the gang's usual table; he smiled as they approached.

"Hey. I didn't see your car when we arrived," she observed.

"Yeah, it's being serviced today so mom dropped me off after we left it at the shop," he explained. "She'll be picking me up after school and then we'll go and collect it."

"See, I told you there was nothing to worry about," Beck muttered testily. Jade just shrugged while Freddie gave the exchange a curious look.

The week had passed fairly uneventfully for the gang. Cat had seen Danny in midweek and the two had caught a movie at the mall, though it hadn't been a late night with it being a school night (her parents had yet to find out about her skipping school to hang out with him earlier in the week, much to the little red-head's relief). Freddie, meanwhile, was delighted to receive 100% in his tech theatre exam; it was, of course, the school's highest ever score and the first time in Hollywood Arts history that such an achievement had occurred; his reward was a plaque bearing his photograph that was on display just outside the classroom. As usual he was also burying himself in work on a Monday and Wednesday (and would be working again tonight with no performance of his play to be involved in), his and André's gym session on a Tuesday and fencing with Beck the previous night (the songsmith had been unable to make it; it turned out that he had also come across Trina having her feet fondled and had was actually at the Vega home undergoing the same procedure). Tori had been forced to hide her disappointment at learning just how busy the boy's schedule was; she was eager to hang with him as often as possible, particularly with the spectre of her ex-boyfriend becoming more involved in her life again as he was dating Cat. The Seattle-born teen had been able to call around after work for a little while on the Wednesday for a 'study date' as they had dubbed it; she was hoping they'd be able to spend another Saturday evening together this week.

_The Slap Mobile. _

_Tori Vega: Lunch at school = SALTY FRENCH FRY TIME! _

_Mood = Hungry._

Tori, Freddie, Cat, Beck and Jade were sat around the table. Beck, to his eye, still seemed a little less laid back and collected than usual, though he didn't want to press the issue and risk causing trouble for his friend in her relationship; he trusted them to figure it out for themselves.

"Hey, can you pass the salt?" Tori asked the darker brunette.

"I suppose so," she groaned theatrically and pushed the cellar across the table.

"Sorry to put you to that trouble," the half-Latina growled sarcastically; Freddie grinned at their exchange.

From the corner of his eye he saw a black-haired boy creeping towards the table. He was surprised when the boy stopped behind Cat and put his hands over her eyes.

"Guess who," the boy called playfully.

"Um, is it Beck?" Cat asked; the others exchanged startled looks.

"What?" an incredulous Freddie asked.

"I'm sitting right next to you," the Canadian-born pointed out.

"Oh, yeah," the red-head remembered and lifted her left hand to his face. "Hey, Beck," she giggled.

"And she's feeling my face," he noted.

"Uh, no. No, it's me," Cat's boyfriend released her eyes and she turned towards him.

"Daniel! What are you doing here?" she asked, giving him a hug.

"I had a half day and I thought I'd come visit you for lunch," he explained, taking a seat between his girlfriend and Beck.

"Well, this is so nice. Lucky Daniel here gets to have lunch with his new girlfriend and his old girlfriend," Jade pointed out in a forced happy voice.

"Yes, it WILL be nice," Tori grumbled in an annoyed tone.

"Nice to meet you Daniel; I'm Freddie," the tech producer offered the newcomer his hand; the Sherwood student shook it with a smile.

"Oh, Freddie. Cat's told me a lot about you." The redhead giggled at this.

"It's all lies!" the Seattle-born insisted with a grin.

"WHAT'S THAT SUPPOSED TO MEAN?" the girl yelped; Jade sought to defuse the situation.

"So, did you invite Daniel to the kick back?"

"Oh, my god, I forgot," she replied.

"Kick back?" he asked.

"Yeah. Once every semester, the school lets us have a Saturday night party right here in the parking lot," she explained.

"Live music, cheese fountain," Beck supplied.

"Cheese fountain?" he repeated.

"Cheddar," Cat whispered seductively. "Will you come?"

"Yeah, totally, Danny agreed.

"Tori, are you going to be there? It'll be your first kick back won't it?" Jade asked the other girl.

"Uh yeah, sure, Jade, I will be there," she answered a little distractedly, vaguely registering as she did that it was scuppering her hopes to hang with Freddie in quieter surroundings; she, of course, assumed that he would be there for the party.

"Ooh! Guess what I made?" Cat delved into her bag.

"Ah, what'd you make?" her boy asked.

"Brownies!" she called triumphantly, hoisting a bag of the goodies.

"Wow," his enthusiasm was limited.

"Sorry, Danny doesn't like brownies," Tori pointed out; the red velvet-haired girl was confused.

"Everyone likes brownies. Open," she demanded.

"Uh, yeah-mmmmm." He accepted the treat; his face brightened quickly. "Wow. These are really good."

"What?" Tori yelped.

Despite her annoyance at Danny's presence, Jade grinned at Tori's annoyance. "He said Cat's brownie is really good," she pointed out.

"I made you brownies twice and you told me you didn't like brownies," she argued.

"Yeah, but Cat's are different."

"Different how? What do you mean 'different?'" she demanded.

"Tori..." he tried to placate her'; Cat was quicker.

"Try one," she insisted, giving her friend one of the snacks.

"How is it?" Freddie asked with a smile.

"I gotta go," the singer muttered, getting up and departing; Cat offered one to the former iCarly member.

He nodded as he savoured it. "These _are_ really good," he complemented her; she smiled in return.

* * *

The tech producer was waiting for Marissa's arrival after school; he had just received a text informing him that she was nearly there when Robbie came up to him; the boy was in an unusually happy mood and a number of students were on their knees feeling his bare foot.

"Hey Rob, how are you?" he asked, looking in slight confusion at the crowd gathering around the other boy's feet.

"I'm good, thanks Freddie," he smiled.

"I do like that," one of the students by Robbie's feet commented.

"It's like a baby's butt," a second agreed.

"I know. You guys ever felt a foot that soft?" the ventriloquist asked them.

"No, never," a third conceded.

"I didn't think so," the smug teen retorted.

"That is a quality foot," he was told.

"It really is," echoed another.

"Alright, see you guys tomorrow?" he asked as the final bell encouraged their departure.

"Later, dude," one of the kids called as he stood and left.

"Robbie, how come all those people were rubbing on your foot?" Freddie asked in bewilderment.

"Here, see for yourself," he offered it to him.

"Huh?"

"Feel it. Come on. Freddie, come on," he urged. Against his better judgement Freddie squatted down and began to feel the other boys foot.

"Dang, man, that's smooth," he complimented.

"Right?" Robbie agreed.

"Freddie Benson!" Marissa had arrived at the school. "Why are you rubbing that boy's foot?"

"You've got to feel it mom. Just try it," he urged her; Marissa looked suspiciously at the pair but did so, adding her own impressed comments as she did.

"How'd you get it so soft?" Freddie asked his friend.

"You want to know?" Robbie teased.

"Yeah," Freddie nodded.

"You want to know?" Robbie repeated, drawing out the moment.

"I just said yes. Weren't you listening?" the other boy snapped a little.

"Freddie..." Robbie continued to tease him a little; the Seattle-born was getting annoyed by now.

"Tell me, don't tell me, but stop asking the same question over and over," he snapped.

"Freddie, that's not nice - even if he IS annoying," his mother chided him lightly.

Fortunately for Robbie he wouldn't have to explain everything; Trina arrived at that moment.

"Hey, Trina, Freddie and his mom want to know about foot smoothening."

"Okay. I use pooka fish from Puerto Iguazu; they love the taste of dead human skin," she explained.

"Pooka fish?" Marissa has mildly horrified.

"How'd you get these?" Freddie was intrigued.

"I know a guy," the diva grinned. "Now, when you put your feet in the tank with them, the fish nibble off all the dead foot skin and calluses, leaving your feet insanely soft and supple."

"Soft and supple," Robbie agreed.

"Do you have ANY idea how dangerous that is?" Marissa charged.

"But feel my foot?" she offered it to them, nodding as they caressed it.

_Vega Residence._

Marissa and Freddie sat with their feet suspended over the tank.

"You're _sure_ this is safe?" Freddie asked.

"Sure," Trina was nonchalant. "You want to go around with gross feet, Freddie, 'cause let me tell you – girls don't dig that, _especially _my little sister," the untalented Vega sister teased at the end.

"Freddie?" Marissa was understandably curious.

"Oh c'mon," Trina urged. "It's so _obvious_ that you're into her. I mean, I can't think _why_ when _I'm_ here and available but each to their own I guess." She bent down and picked up a bucket of water, containing the fish.

"I can't believe I'm doing this..." Marissa began as the girl poured water and the fish into the tank.

"Oh yeah," Trina smiled.

"Do it," Robbie urged.

"Do it," Trina repeated. "Dooo it," she almost sang.

Mother and son traded one last look before simultaneously plunging their feet into the water.

"Oh! Oh-oh! Ooo-hoo!" Freddie moaned as the fish worked their magic.

"Oooooo-ooohh! Ooohh! That feels good," his mother agreed.

"Awesome, right?" Trina grinned at the Bensons.

"Yeah. It's like my feet are getting a million tiny kisses. All right. Yeah, get 'em little fishy," Freddie encouraged.

"Ooh! Yeah!" Marissa echoed.

The pair couldn't stay long; they had to pick up Freddie's car in time for him to get to work so they left shortly after the 'treatment' was concluded.

"Here Freddie, take one of these and another before bedtime – and then three more tomorrow, finishing the course on Sunday," his mother handed him a packet of pills from her purse as they belted themselves into her car.

"What are these?" he asked curiously, turning the box over in his hand.

"Anti-venom pills," she explained. "The saliva of the pooka fish is riddled with toxins and I don't want you getting sick."

"Where do you _get_ this stuff mom?" he asked in exasperated amazement.

"From the hospital," she smiled conspiratorially as she put the vehicle into drive and they headed for the garage.

_Asphalt Café_

_Saturday, 27__th__ March 2010_.

_The Slap Mobile _

_Tori Vega: My First KICK BACK at Hollywood Arts. Funnnnn! _

_Mood = Partyish._

The brunette was getting into the swing of things at the party; she had come across Freddie earlier in the evening, surprised to hear him singing her sister's praises as he talked about the foot smoothening procedure he'd undergone the previous night. Tori palmed her forehead at the news, wondering exactly what crazy scheme Trina was involved in now, despite her friend's insistence that it had worked well.

"Hey, Sikowitz," she greeted the crazy teacher as they spotted him; he wore an apron and was tending a barbecue grill.

"Tori! How are you enjoying your first Hollywood arts kick-back?" he enquired.

"It's really fun," she smiled.

"It's a great night," Freddie agreed, "I'd have expected it next week for the start of Spring Break though," he continued thoughtfully.

"Well a lot of kids and parents go away on the Saturday to get a bit more time together – some of the teachers like to do that too," Sikowitz explained. "Would you like a sausage?" the teacher then offered them; Freddie declined, having experienced Sikowitz's barbecuing at a previous kick back.

"Uh, sure. Okay," Tori agreed however.

"Excellent. Here's a nice fat one. I'll just impale it with this stick." He made a squealing noise as he did before handing it to the girl; both she and Freddie were giving the eccentric a confused look at his behaviour. "Here you go."

"Mmm, nice," she told him after taking a bite. "What kind of sausage is this?" The brunette couldn't place the taste.

"Oh, just sausage. You know?" Sikowitz was evasive.

"Yeah, but what kind of meat is it made of?" she pressed.

Sikowitz started laughing and dancing with her at this. She eventually managed to spin away and she and Freddie walked away.

"And _that's_ why I said no," he grinned at her.

"Oh it's not that bad; I just don't know what it is. Oh."

Her gaze had fallen upon Cat and Danny dancing together and seemingly having great time. Jade walked up behind them, frowning a little to see them looking so comfortable together.

"Hey Freddie, hey Tori," she greeted them.

"Jade, how are you?" he smiled.

"Good thanks. Say, how long did you and Danny date for?" she turned to the half-Latina.

"A couple of months; it just didn't work out between us," she replied with a sad look.

"Oh hey, Jade – you've got to feel my foot," Freddie told her excitedly, bending down to remove his shoe and sock.

"Why would I want to feel…" she began before shrugging. "Alright," and she bent down towards the offered foot. Tori rolled her eyes and walked away from them.

"Wow, nice foot, dude," the gothic girl complimented him.

"Yeah, I know," he smiled.

"That really is some soft footage! Beck, Beck. You've got to come feel Freddie's foot," she called her boyfriend over.

He came over, looking rather confused, and joined his girl at his friend's foot. "Dang, dude. That's some soft footage."

"I mean really, let's be serious here. That's a nice foot," Jade echoed.

"It's something, yeah," the Canadian actor continued. Tori threw a look over her shoulder and shook her head again; she caught another glimpse of Cat and Danny dancing together and felt the sudden urge to be anywhere else, running into Robbie by the (now closed) Grub Truck as she made her way randomly away from her friends.

"Hey, Tori. Uh, have you tried the hot cheese fountain?" the ventriloquist asked her.

"No," she answered.

"They have a hot cheese fountain," he supplied unnecessarily.

"Okay," she responded weakly; Robbie nodded and she left in something of a hurry, heading towards the aforementioned fountain. Unfortunately this took her back towards Cat and Danny; they were making out close by it. Overcome by a surge of jealousy the girl turned the spray up, covering the kissing couple in cheese.

"What the hairballs?" Sikowitz asked as he hurried over to turn it down; across the parking lot, distracted by the commotion, Freddie put his shoe and sock back on before hurrying over in pursuit of Beck and Jade who were also heading over to see what had happened.

"You got cheese in our hair!" Danny complained as he rounded on her.

"Tori..." Cat whined.

"Why did you do that?!" her boyfriend demanded.

"I, I don't- I don't know! I just..." she couldn't come up with a reason; instead she fled inside the school.

"Oh, my God," Cat whispered as she felt the stuff dripping all over her.

"You see? This is what happens when you mix teenagers and hot cheese. I warned you," Sikowitz called out randomly.

By this time Freddie, Beck and Jade had joined them; the tech producer surveyed the scene with a shake of his head.

"You two get cleaned up, I'll go and talk to Tori," he told the couple, heading off in the same direction as the brunette.

"I'll come with you," Jade set off after him; Beck shrugged and followed his girlfriend.

_Black Box Theatre_.

Freddie, Beck and Jade had spotted the girl heading into the theatre; by the time they arrived, however, she was nowhere in sight.

"Tori? Yo, Tori!" Freddie called to his friend as he looked around the deserted place.

"We saw you run in here," Jade pointed out.

"What's with all that stuff?" Beck asked, looking at the camping equipment scattered around the stage.

"Sinjin and his friends are doing a play," the tech producer shrugged. "I'm hoping to help them with some of the lighting and effects and stuff."

"I heard it's about a camping trip gone wrong," Jade added.

"Gone wrong?" Beck wondered.

"They end up eating each other or something, I don't know."

"Pretty much, by the end of it," Freddie smiled at his friend. "Tori? Tori! Yo Tori!" he tried again. Jade spotted a zipped-up tent on stage; her suspicions were further aroused when it appeared to move slightly in the dim light of the theatre. She picked up a brush and threw it at the tent's door; a painful groan removed any doubt as to where the sought-after brunette was taking refuge.

"Tori, come out to play-yaaay..." the darker haired girl called in a sing-song voice; her prey opened the door and stuck her head through.

"Leave me alone," she demanded balefully.

"What up with the hot cheese attack on Cat?" Beck asked in a sympathetic voice.

"And her boyfriend, Daniel?" Jade supplied with barely repressed mirth, earning her another scolding look from Beck.

"I don't know!" Tori wailed as she wriggled out and took a seat on the stage; Freddie sat next to her. "I mean, I'm so not the jealous type. I've never ever done anything like that before. But seeing my ex-boyfriend making out with Cat, I guess I just- I just lost it for a second and the next thing I knew, my hand was on the cheese-valve."

"I'm sorry," Freddie said softly, slipping an arm around the brunette's shoulders. "I know just how you're feeling watching the two of them together."

The brunette was grateful for his words and would have happily stayed in his consoling presence all night but she knew what she had to do. "Ugh, I have to go apologise to them," she noted before getting up and handing Freddie her sausage before leaving the theatre in search of the couple; the boy looked suspiciously at the 'food' item before gingerly setting it down on the stage. Jade still wore a small smirk as her rival left while Beck and Freddie looked more concerned.

"Hey Freddie" the gothic girl called; he turned to look at her. "Can we feel your foot some more?" Beck nodded eagerly beside her.

"Sure," he shrugged and began removing his shoes and socks as the couple approached. "I've got nothing better to do tonight."

"Man, we have got to talk to Trina about this," Beck commented as they admired the boy's foot once again.

"Yeah, is she here tonight?" Jade looked up at Freddie.

"I guess so; she wouldn't miss a party like this and she'd have to give Tori a ride in and out."

"I'm going to go find her," Jade rose and tugged her boyfriend's sleeve, urging him to do likewise.

"I guess that's our cue to leave."

Freddie watched them go with an amused smile and a shake of his head. He pulled his socks and shoes on again before figuring that he'd go in search of Tori; he felt that she could probably use a friend right about now. He glanced at his phone as he left the theatre; her latest update seemingly confirmed his suspicions.

_The Slap Mobile. _

_Tori Vega: I did bad things with hot cheese. Uck, WHY?! _

_Mood = Upset_

"Hey, have you found them yet?" He had come across Tori near Sikowitz's room; the girl was using the water fountain and had just splashed a little on her face.

"No, I'm still looking. Where could they be?"

"Maybe the bathrooms so they can wash the stuff off themselves?" he suggested lightly.

"Uh, why didn't I think of that?" she grumbled.

"Probably the same reason you didn't think to just blow off school last Friday, drive to Bakersfield and make sure you got the make-up off your face as soon as possible; you don't do well under pressure Tori," he observed sympathetically, patting her arm gently.

The two heard a quick cough and the brunette looked up from her arm to her friend. "I'd know that cough anywhere; it's Danny and he's nearby. I need to talk to him." She turned and headed towards the lockers, spotting the boy outside the bathrooms there, rubbing at his hair with a towel.

"Danny," she began.

"Hi," he returned a little tersely.

"Where's Cat?"

"Oh, she's still trying to get cheese out of her ear."

"Ohhhh," Tori groaned again. "All right, listen. I have no idea why I did that."

"Were you jealous?" he asked curiously.

"No."

"Because it doesn't make sense for you to be jealous. You broke up with me."

"I know. It makes zero sense." She took a seat on one of the steps and gave him a helpless look. "I guess it's just a dumb girl thing."

"Like wearing a skirt over jeans?" he asked with a grin as he took a seat next to her.

"Yeah, what's up with that?" she wondered aloud.

"I mean, are you maybe still into me?" Freddie heard this as he reached the lockers; he wasn't trying to eavesdrop, he just didn't particularly want to spend the rest of the night stood by the water fountain. He hesitated, not wanting to disturb their conversation.

"No. Not at all," Tori tried to insist. "And I love Cat. She's like the sweetest thing ever, and I'm psyched you guys are going out - even if another of my friends IS into her."

The Seattleite frowned at this disclosure; he was about to say something and object when the brunette continued, "I guess it's- it's just..." and suddenly she and Danny were kissing. Freddie's eyes widened as he felt a huge conflict over the site; part of him quite liked the idea of Tori getting with Danny because it would maybe leave Cat free for him to pursue again, but at the same time he was concerned because this is Cat's guy and he knew how upset she would be. And speaking of Cat…

The red haired girl chose this precise moment to exit the girls' bathroom. She ground to an instant halt as she saw them and squealed as if in pain. The teenagers stopped kissing and both gave a yelp.

"Noooo-uhhh—" Tori began.

"No," Danny repeated.

C at turned and ran off in tears; she passed Freddie without realising he was there; he meant to intercept her but she left at top speed.

"Cat..." Danny called after her as she ran.

"Oh my God. Cat..." Tori shouted. Freddie walked into view of the pair and suggested that _he_ go after her; Robbie appeared at top of stairs, however, and interrupted proceedings.

"Hey, do any of you guys know what kind of meat Sikowitz uses in this sausage? I asked him and he just started laughing like..." he imitated the odd teacher's laugh but stopped at the looks on the teens' faces. "Bye," he walked down the stairs.

"How come you're eating sausages anyway," Freddie asked curiously.

"What do you mean?"

"Well I thought you were Jewish. Most sausages are made, theoretically anyway, with pork."

"Oh. Uh…" the ventriloquist was at a bit of a loss for how to answer him.

_Valentine Residence, Hollywood Hills._

_Sunday, 28__th__ March 2010_.

The little red head had cried herself to sleep the previous night; the collapse of her mood was not lost on her parents who were eager to find out the reason. They wouldn't have to look too hard; Danny arrived mid-morning, wanting to speak to their daughter. When she initially refused, Mr Valentine rounded angrily on the boy.

"What did you do to her?" he demanded.

He sighed, having the decency to look shame-faced as he explained. "One of her friends is a girl from my old school – a girl that I used to date. Last night… I guess there were a few unresolved feelings going around because Tori ended up kissing me and I… I didn't stop her," he admitted.

"_Tori?_ The new girl?" Mrs Valentine asked; he nodded.

"Wait, you were kissing one of my daughter's friends?" Cat's father sought clarity.

"Yes, sir. I regret it and I know it hurt Cat, but I want to talk to her about it."

"I don't," a small voice called; the three turned to see a baleful looking Cat at the foot of the stairs; her cheeks were tear-stained, she was in her pyjamas and hugging the stuffed toy Freddie had given her nearly two years earlier. "It's over," she looked her now ex-boyfriend square in the eye. "We're done. I don't want to see you again." She turned and started to walk back upstairs.

"Cat," he called after her.

"You heard her," Mr Valentine whispered coldly. "I think you should leave."

He nodded in disappointment and departed.

_Asphalt Café._

_Monday, 29__th__ March 2010_.

_The Slap. _

_Tori Vega: Cat Cat Cat Cat CAT... PLEASE stop avoiding me! WE GOTTA TALK. _

_Mood = Desperate._

It had been a difficult thirty-six hours or so for the younger Vega; she had sat through her sister setting Beck and Jade up with a foot smoothening and forcefully declined the offer of one of her own (voicing the opinion that the only way she would like to experience the fish is if she was armed with a bottle of soy sauce). She had tried desperately to contact the red velvet-haired teen all day and was growing increasingly frustrated with her failure to do so. She was now sat at the usual table with Freddie, Robbie, Beck, Jade, Trina and André before school; had she been in a more observant mood then she would have noticed that the latter five all looked a little paler than usual.

"Okay, I tried calling her all day yesterday, left her 5 voicemails and sent her 12 text messages. Why won't Cat talk to me?" she challenged.

"Because you squirted hot cheese in her ear and made out with her boyfriend?" Freddie suggested; she gave him a slightly dirty look.

"Those things upset some girls," Jade grinned before giving a cough. "Damn, I must have picked up a bug somewhere," she noted.

"Ah ha!" Tori spotted the shorter girl creeping across café; clearly the girl was trying to avoid her. "Cat!" She got up and raced after her; the girl turned and ran away screaming. Tori gave chase, following her into the locker area.

The remaining teens exchanged looks at the scene that their friends were causing. "It's between them; they need to sort it out." Freddie commented with a shrug, before turning to Jade and glancing at the others too. "Besides, I don't think you guys should be left alone."

"I just want to talk to you!" Tori called as she chased Cat through the main doorway; she vaguely heard the bell but had more important things to worry about than being on time for class.

Cat, having failed to shake her off, began racing up and down the staircase, weaving in between the students who were lingering before the start of class; most of them seemed to be enjoying the impromptu spectacle far too much to think about intervening. "No, no, no! No, you kissed my boyfriend! No! No! Get away from me! No!" she yelled as Tori tried to grab her when she came within range; Cat only just managed to evade her. "Whoa, stop it! No!" she called as the other girl finally caught her and grabbed hold of her arm.

"Cat! Got 'ya!" she cried triumphantly.

"Let go!" the shorter girl demanded.

"No! We have to go talk!" Tori insisted.

"I don't want to talk to you!" Cat dug her heels in and refused to move as Tori intended to lead her somewhere more private. The brunette pulled harder and her friend fell to the floor.

"Cat!" she complained, trying to pull her to her feet.

"I don't want to get up!" the cupcake lover complained.

"C'mon Cat!" the half-Latina redoubled her efforts.

"Help! I need a teacher! Please, teacher," she called as she spotted Sikowitz walking towards them.

"Hello, girls. Can you believe I scored tickets to Hall and Oates?" he commented and left the area without a second look towards them.

Tori had run out of patience. "All right," she let go of the girl's wrist, grabbed her by leg instead and began dragging her along floor towards janitor's closet. "Here we go."

"Oh God; Tori!" Cat was wriggling and trying to escape.

"This way. Almost there. Okay. Okay. Here we go," Tori muttered as she continued to drag her along; Cat shrieked as she went and turns to the watching students

"Stop this from happening?" she asked them; again they were enjoying the show far too much to bring it to an early end.

"Oh, it's okay. She enjoys it," Tori tried to allay any guilt any of them might just be feeling. Finally she reached the closet; once they were inside, Tori closed door and leant against it.

"Let me out," Cat demanded as she finally got to her feet.

"Cat!" her friend began.

"This is kidnapping... or Cat-napping," she giggled at her own joke before her face fell and her voice became unusually hard. "Open the door," she ordered. Instead, Tori closed the gap between them and grabbed her shoulders.

"I'm sorry! And I'm not just saying I'm sorry, I'm really, really, seriously sorry," she told her shamefully.

"You sprayed cheese on me and then kissed my boyfriend," the other pointed out flatly.

Tori released her and lowered her eyes in embarrassment, guilt and shame. "Yeah. Yeah, I did."

"Why would you be mean to me?" the redhead pressed.

"I don't know. Maybe I did still have a few tiny little feelings left for Danny, and maybe that's why I went a little crazy, seeing you two being all mushy together," she rationalised.

"You could have just talked to me about it," the shorter teen pointed out.

"I know. What I did was terrible and awful and immature and you have every right to be furious with me. I swear, Cat, if I were you, I'd just punch me right in the face."

A moment later, Cat extended her left arm and punched the other girl square on the nose before looking off dreamily into space.

"Owww! Cat!" Tori complained.

"What?" she asked calmly, looking back towards her friend.

"You just punched me in the face," the brunette moaned.

"You said to," she pointed out.

"I know, but that's just something people say- owwww!" she pinched her nose with her left hand as she felt blood begin to trickle down one of her nostrils.

"Does it hurt?" Cat enquired.

"A lot! Okay. I think my nose may be broken."

"Well, now I feel all bad," she lamented.

"Don't. I deserved it! Feel better?" Tori asked.

"I think so," she nodded with a little smile.

"I'm sorry," the new girl repeated; she held out her right arm towards the other girl. Cat gave a genuine smile and they hugged, bringing a giggle from the shorter teen. "Will you take me to a hospital now?" Tori pleaded.

"Sure," she agreed.

"Thank you," and with that the two reconciled friends left the janitor's closet and headed for Cat's car.

Little did they know that their other friends were en route to the hospital too; Freddie had taken as many as he could in his car and Beck insisted that he felt well enough to drive himself and Jade there too; the technically-minded teen called his mother as he was driving them all there as he suspected some sort of poisoning from the fish.

_Providence Saint Joseph Medical Centre, 501 S Buena Vista St, Burbank_.

The two girls had sat in near silence, both deep in thought, as Cat drove them the shortish distance to the hospital. As they had parked up and were leaving the car, however, Tori spoke up, "You know Freddie still likes you, don't you? I'd just about bugged him into asking you out again after the opening night of _Uptown, Downtown _when you announced you were going off to meet Danny."

"Really?" Cat was shocked by this revelation. Before she could stop to think she had declared, "Well I wish you'd said so sooner, you could have _had_ Daniel." She gasped at what she'd just said and covered her mouth with her hand as she processed it.

"I uh…" Tori was floundering a little herself at that thought and prospect, "I'm not sure about that."

"Then why did you kiss him?" Cat asked; curiosity had replaced hurt or anger towards the other girl, "either you like him or you don't."

"_That_ is something that I need to figure out I guess," the brunette noted; her friend nodded alongside her.

They arrived at reception and were directed towards one of the nurses; Cat was fidgeting as the examination began; she was eager to leave this place and go and see Freddie, though she knew that she couldn't just ditch Tori though as she was the girl's ride back.

"Is it broken?" Tori asked the nurse.

"I don't think so, just bruised," she replied. "How did this happen?"

The two girls exchanged sheepish looks. "I, uh, fell," the brunette lied; the nurse looked thoroughly unconvinced.

"On what?" she played along.

"Something… hard," the singer replied, floundering a little.

"Like a rock," Cat elaborated with a giggle.

"Well... We should get you x-rayed. Take a seat over there," she pointed Tori towards the waiting area.

"Thank you," the brunette told her.

"Um-hmm," the nurse walked off. Cat groaned a little; she wanted to get back to school and talk to Freddie.

Little did she know that the boy was just a few yards away from her, behind a nearby screen where he looked concernedly over his friends, all of whom were suffering from the poisonous saliva of the pooka fish.

"Score one to mom," he muttered, giving Marissa a one-armed hug as the Head Nurse looked over his friends. She returned it and added a conspiratorial grin.

"Hey, how come _you're_ not sick," Trina demanded curiously as she eyed the grinning Bensons.

"Just lucky I guess," the boy shrugged before hastily changing the subject. "I'm going to go and get a drink; mom always says I need to drink more fluids."

"That's very true Freddie, I do," she backed him up eagerly, watching him go.

"Trina," Beck groaned in pain.

"What?" the elder Vega asked.

"Oh my God!" Cat had been drawn by the sound of the voices she recognised; _her_ cry caused Tori to join the gathering.

"What? Whoa!" she spotted most of her friendship group laid up and looking very sick.

"You all look awful!" Cat observed helpfully.

"What happened?" Tori asked them.

"Ask your sister," André coughed; it was Marissa who was to answer though.

"They all have myroleticulitis, an infectious attack on the central nervous system that can be very dangerous unless treated immediately," the Benson matriarch explained.

"How did they all get it?" Tori wondered.

"The pooka fish. Their saliva is riddled with toxins," the nurse answered.

"Cat, why are you fidgeting like this?" Jade asked in an annoyed voice; her usually low patience was at breaking point due to the sickness and her fidgety friend was really not helping her.

"Oh, because I really need to talk to Freddie when we leave here," Cat answered distractedly.

"Oh Freddie's here," Marissa supplied, "he just went for a drink a minute ago."

"Oh, 'kay 'kay, well I'll just wait for him then," she said happily, leaving the curtained-off room and sitting on a bench. She was alone when Freddie spotted her as he returned; he noticed her giving him an apprehensive look.

"Hey, are you ok?" he asked as he slid into the seat next to her.

"Yeah," the red-head answered with a smile, still not quite daring to believe Tori. "I broke up with Danny yesterday though after… what happened. Tori and I talked this morning though. I punched her in the face, we're good now," she finished with another smile, giggling at his surprised reaction to her admission. "Thanks for asking."

"Of course," he said in a voice that was almost bearing a hint of offence that he'd do otherwise, "just because of… everything that's happened over the last year or so – I never stopped caring about you Cat."

She saw the sincerity in his eyes and decided to believe the brunette; she quietly admitted, "I never stopped liking _you_ either Freddie."

Freddie was a little stunned at the different choice of wording the girl used but this was nothing compared to his shock as she leaned in towards him. He was frozen in place as she moved ever closer; finally their lips met in a gentle, tentative and almost shy kiss. Suddenly the last year and a bit dissolved into nothing as their lips reacquainted and the feelings they had both long-repressed rushed back to the forefront of their minds. Freddie reminded himself, though, of all the things he had said to Tori in recent weeks about his relationship issues – and that Cat had literally just gone through a break-up herself – so he reluctantly pulled away; the look of hurt in her eyes that he had done so almost caused him physical pain.

"You've _just _broken up with Daniel," he reminded her in a whisper, "I don't want to take advantage of you while you're feeling down about it."

"You wouldn't be," she insisted, seizing his hand surprisingly strongly and fixing him with a stare, "I _want _you back Freddie; I guess I've really wanted it for a long time," she finished with a shy admission and a blush creeping up her cheeks.

He swallowed down his apprehension, feeling in his heart that he could truly put his trust in the beautiful girl sat next to him; his _friend_, someone he truly cared for, _loved_ even (on some level, as he had recently told Tori). He realised in that moment that she was the one, maybe the _only_ one, that would make a romantic endeavour worthwhile again right now but he gave himself a few more seconds by tenderly cupping her cheek with his hand and searching her eyes for any hint of uncertainty or evidence that she was merely rebounding. He found none, only the bright, child-like exuberance that he loved to see, so he snaked his left arm around her back and pulled her close. Her arms wrapped instinctively around his neck and his eyes closed as their lips met again.

Tori emerged from behind the curtain where her other friends were housed and spied the pair. She smiled at the sight of the two teenagers kissing, delighted that Cat was happy again after what she and Danny had done and thrilled to see that it was Freddie who she was happy with – even if she felt a small pang of regret that he wouldn't be with _her_ anytime soon. She swallowed it down with a small feeling of guilt and just continued to grin happily as she watched them; a moment later she heard a voice by her shoulder.

"What are you staring at? Oh," the half-Latina detected the still slightly groggy tones of Jade West. The dark brunette eyed the finally reconciled couple and began to smile, pushing it further and further up her face with every passing second but both brunettes were surprised to see that, while the other was smiling, they refused to fully reach their eyes. "Nice work in breaking Danny and Cat up," Jade wheezed before staggering back behind the curtain to her bed.

"Are you ready for the scan?" the nurse asked the half-Latina. She nodded and followed her to a waiting room and she took a seat next to a handsome, dark-haired boy her own age.

Noticing her smile a little at him he introduced himself. "Hi, my name's Steven, I'm here rehabbing after I had an injury playing football."

"I'm Tori; I'm here because my friend punched me in the nose."

"Uh, why?" he laughed, stifling it behind his hand a moment later as he realised the impropriety of the action.

"Oh I made out with her boyfriend, who was my ex-boyfriend."

"Uhuh," the boy was baffled by the girls' antics.

"Actually, I guess I should call him and figure it all out one way or the other," she said, more to herself than to him; she stood and withdrew her phone from her jeans pocket. "Danny?" she asked as he answered; she was thankful that his number hadn't changed recently (though she could, of course, have just asked Cat for it if it had). "Yeah, it's me. Can we meet somewhere and talk later; I think we've a few things to figure out. Tomorrow night? Sure, that sounds great."

* * *

**AN: And we're done with this chapter. I hope you liked it; one or two little threads that I hope will keep everyone interested. Don't be shy about reviewing and I hope to see you all next week for the next chapter.**


	16. Chapter 16: Freddie's Big Break

**AN: Hello everyone and welcome to another little update for this story; I hope you're all still enjoying reading it and looking forward to seeing our heroes function as a couple again. Be warned that it's somewhat fluffier than recent chapters have been but there should still be something for everyone.**

**My thanks go to everyone who read and reviewed Chapter 15; your feedback is **_**always**_** appreciated.**

**Challenge King – I'm glad you liked the way that I did it. Of course Tori, who was still thinking of maybe making her own play for Freddie at that point, would want to cheer him up (even without any potential romantic interest she's a nice girl so it is in her nature to try and help). Jade, of course, is Freddie's go-to-girl and, again, wants to help him any way she can.**

**Guest – yes, at long last we have our Caddie couple together again. Tori **_**is**_** attracted to Freddie and probably vice versa, even though he wasn't looking for anything with her at the time he's acknowledged that she's a beautiful girl. You make some good points about Freddie and Cat and what happened last time; they will get addressed in time.**

**Fanfic-Reader-88 – why on earth would anyone trust Trina, you're right. Maybe they won't in future. Tori was conflicted, she was happy for her friends but sad because a part of her, at the end of the previous chapter, quite fancied having Freddie for herself. As you say, she's met a certain person that we all know.**

**TheQuestion23 – trouble? Well, maybe.**

**Pbow – it's possible that Freddie thought Marissa was exaggerating again but took the pills to keep the peace. Yes, Tori met Steven. It won't be quite 100 days from now; I think in canon they'd been **_**dating**_** for 100 days so there's a little more leeway in the timeline yet for everything to happen.**

**Thanks again for your feedback; I hope you enjoy chapter 16.**

* * *

Chapter 16: Freddie's Big Break.

_Providence Saint Joseph Medical Centre, 501 S Buena Vista St, Burbank_.

_Monday, 29__th__ March 2010_.

After an enjoyable few minutes of kissing the little redhead Freddie reluctantly pulled away for a little air. He saw Cat eyeing him expectantly, almost predatorily, and forced himself to look away from her – otherwise, as happy as he was to spend his time like this, the boy knew that they'd be here all day.

"I guess we should give the others the good news," he suggested.

"'kay 'kay," Cat bounced to her feet, interlaced her fingers with his and led him behind the screen that was hiding the poorly members of the Hollywood Arts 'gang'. Jade saw them and broke into as enthusiastic applause as she could muster in the circumstances; Beck and André followed and, seemingly a little reluctantly, so did Trina and Robbie a moment later. Freddie, though, turned his attention towards the Head Nurse; he gave her a questioning and cautious stare as she eyed her son holding hands with the vividly red haired girl.

"Freddie; so you two are…"

"Yes, mom, we're back together," he turned to the girl, "finally." She giggled yet again before going up on tiptoes to give him a peck on the cheek. "How are these guys?"

"Well they won't be leaving here anytime soon," Nurse Benson answered brusquely. "We'll be keeping them in most of the day and maybe overnight while we check on the levels of toxins in their bloodstream and how they're responding to the drugs."

"Well we need to get back to school," her son noted, "once Tori's done with her x-rays we'll be going."

"Ok Freddie; I'll see you this evening when you get home from work. Will your friend be coming over?" she asked in a strained tone, feeling that she needed to at least show willing in an effort to keep the boy onside; the last thing she wanted was him moving out again – particularly if the dizzy girl might provide him with a sanctuary (having only met Mrs Valentine briefly over a year and a half ago, she didn't know how open-minded they might be towards providing houseroom for their daughter's boyfriend if he needed it).

The teenage couple looked at one another. "Uh sure, I'll come over when you get off work," Cat supplied.

"Great, I'll pick you up on my way home," the Seattle-born smiled warmly. "Now, we need to find Tori. See you guys later!"

A chorus of "bye"s permeated through coughs and splutters as their friends returned their farewell. The new couple followed the signs for the X-ray department and made their way towards it; Freddie pulled them to a halt, however, just outside the waiting area in a deserted hallway.

"Cat?" he began; she looked at him, a thin cloud of disappointment in her eyes as she had hoped, and expected, that they would be taking advantage of the empty corridor to start kissing again. "What exactly _are_ we?"

When her look became no less confused he elaborated, "Are we dating? Are we _officially_ boyfriend and girlfriend?"

"Do you _want_ us to be?" she asked; this time he could see some hope shining in her brown eyes.

"Yes I do," he confirmed softly after less than a moment's hesitation.

"Me too, so it's all good!" she cried and jumped towards him. He just managed to brace himself and use his free arm to wrap around her waist and catch her as she flung herself on him, claiming his lips again.

"I need some warning the next time you plan on doing that," he pointed out with a grin after setting her back down; she gave a brief pout before her joyous smile returned.

Tori came through the door to the waiting room at that moment. "Oh, hey guys," she greeted them in surprise. "Were you looking for me?"

"Yeah," Freddie confirmed. "Once you're all set we really should head back to school."

"Well I _am_ all set – and I got a cute guy's number," she grinned holding up a folded piece of paper in triumph.

"Wait, what about Danny?" Cat was surprised and confused by the turn of events.

"I don't know," the brunette's happy voice dropped to a groan again. "I need to talk to him and I'm going to see him tomorrow night to figure… everything out but then I met Steven too."

"Well, at least you have options," Freddie commented reasonably, leading his girl, with their friend following just behind, out of the hospital and into the car park. He realised something as they reached his car. "How did you two get here?"

"Oh, I drove us," Cat explained.

"Then you should probably drive your car back," he suggested, letting go of her hand with great reluctance. "I'll see you when we get back to school," and he gave her a quick kiss.

"I'll go with Cat," the half-Latina volunteered and followed the redhead across the parking lot to her vehicle as Freddie got into his Corolla and began the journey back.

He was just locking the vehicle when he heard the ringtone of his phone and drew it from his pocket; the boy frowned as he didn't recognise the number.

"Hello?" he asked cautiously.

"Freddie Benson?"

"Yes," he confirmed slowly.

"My name's Matt and I'm calling from Parahill Studios. I'm one of the casting directors for a new movie called _Miss Fire_ that we're beginning work on soon. I saw your performance in a play at your school last week and we'd like you to audition for a small role in the movie."

"Wow, that sounds… awesome," the stunned boy replied.

"Can you give me your e-mail address and I'll send you a little sample of the script for you to perform at audition on Thursday, say 4 p.m.?"

"We finish school at 3 so that should work," he confirmed and passed on his e-mail to the caller. He was just finishing the call and hanging up when the girls arrived at his side.

"Hi!" Cat called brightly, pulling him into a hug. He gave her a quick kiss in greeting.

"Who were you talking to?" Tori asked curiously as the three made their way inside the school; Freddie was just stowing his phone in his jeans again as they did.

"Just a casting director for a new movie," he shrugged casually, amusing himself as comprehension dawned on the girls' faces, with excitement following it soon after. "They saw my performance in _Uptown, Downtown _and they must have liked it because they want me to audition for a small role in their latest film."

Cat squealed in excitement. "That's so awesome!" she cried, hugging her boy again; Tori enthusiastically shared the sentiments.

"Well it will be if I get it," he agreed.

_Benson Residence, Hollywood Hills_

Much as he would have loved to have spent a couple of hours with Cat after school and before he went to work, Freddie had his reasons for not doing so. He dashed up to his room, dropped his bag by his desk and booted up his computer. Sure enough an e-mail from the casting director was there; he opened the attached file and printed off the script, giving it a quick read-through on screen as he did. His next action was to pull his phone from his pocket again and tap in a _very_ familiar number on speed dial.

"Yo Freddie; what's up?" the bright voice of Sam Puckett answered.

"Hey Sam; you'll never guess what's been happening around here lately."

"Oh? Anything interesting?"

"Some guy's now dating a pretty little girl with red velvet-coloured hair."

"No way! You two finally got back together?"

The blonde was elated with his news, particularly with the fact that the brown-haired boy sounded genuinely happy; the first time he had seemed, to the girl's ears, _really_ happy in a long time. _Probably the last time was around when I was released last year: before the Prom_, she thought. They had chatted for well over an hour, only stopping when Freddie realised that it was nearly five o'clock and he would have to hurry to avoid being late for work.

"Yeah, you can't be late; you need money to buy your girl some gifts," she teased him.

"I sure do," he agreed with a laugh. "I'll talk to you later, Sam. Oh, actually, how do you fancy coming over here for a couple of days next week while we're on Spring Break? You can hang with us all; they know you now from your trip in September."

"That sounds great; it will be cool to hang with you and Cat and the others. But, where would I stay?"

"With us," he answered nonchalantly.

"Yeah, your mom's going to _love_ that."

"She'll agree; I'll remind her that the house survived Hurricane Sam at Thanksgiving," he laughed; so did she.

* * *

True to his word Freddie had collected his girl on the way home from work; the two were sat on the couch in the living area and in deep lip-lock, feeling that all was right again with the world. Suddenly, though, an unpleasant thought struck the tech producer.

"We've… kinda been here before, haven't we?" he asked, pulling away from her for a moment.

"Yeah, I guess," she looked around, getting his meaning immediately.

"I just…" he took a breath, "I hope that my mom _won't_ freak out again, but if she does…"

"If she does then this time I'll deal with it better," the bubbly teen insisted. She moved her hands to his cheeks and looked him dead in the eye, "I am _not _letting other people break us up again; I made that mistake last time," before she swooped down and they resumed kissing; the door opened a couple of minutes later.

"Hey mom," Freddie called, separating his lips from Cat's for a few seconds.

"Hi Mrs Benson," the redhead smiled, "how are Jade and the others?"

"They uh…" the Benson matriarch was caught a little off-guard, both from the sight of his son and his girlfriend together on the couch (though she knew, of course, that the girl would be in her home) and the question, "they'll be fine. They all seem to be responding well to the treatment and their blood toxin levels have been falling steadily. We're keeping them all in overnight for observation but I'd expect them all to be back in school tomorrow afternoon."

"That's great news," Freddie's tone was relieved.

"It sure is," his girlfriend agreed, fighting the urge to kiss him again under his mother's watchful eye; he took the decision out of her hands by initiating the next kiss, just a quick one before shooting a quick sideways glance at Marissa. She looked uncomfortable at the sight of a girl in her son's arms and being kissed by him but she forced herself to swallow down her natural impulses again.

"I'm going to make some coffee; do either of you want one?" she asked as she walked briskly towards the kitchen.

"I'm good," Cat called.

"Me too," Freddie echoed. "Now," he grinned devilishly at his girl as his mother left them alone, "where were we?"

_Asphalt Café, Hollywood Arts High School,_

_Tuesday, 30__th__ March 2010_.

True to Marissa's prediction, Trina, Beck, Jade, Robbie and André were all back in school around lunch. The elder Vega sister was far from popular with the sophomores; many of them also wanted to know why Freddie hadn't mentioned his pills to them.

"Mom got them from work; I guess she had a limited supply," he shrugged. "It's not like I _knew_ that the fish would make people sick; mom always exaggerates these sorts of things so I assumed that she was doing so again."

"Anyway, Freddie," Tori was eager to change the subject, "any more news on your movie audition?"

This caused something of a stir among the others; they began plying the tech producer with questions and demanding details.

"I have the script pages they gave me here," he removed a slim folder from his bag and took out a few sheaves of paper.

"I'm taking your pickle," Jade smiled at Tori and helped herself to part of the other girl's lunch; the lighter brunette frowned at her.

"So, this movie?" André prompted.

"It's called Miss Fire," the Seattle-born explained. "It's about this woman cop who gets fired and then goes on this crazy rampage."

"That sounds so cool. Who plays the woman cop?" Trina demanded.

"Melinda Murray," he shrugged.

"Shut up!" the songsmith gasped.

"You're going to star With _Melinda Murray_ in a movie?" Tori gasped.

"Well, I'll be playing waiter number one and I only have two lines; that's if I get the part," Freddie sought to downplay it a little.

"So can I read the script? I wanna read it," the younger sister babbled.

"Well, you don't get the whole script unless you get the part. They only give you a few pages to audition with, but here you go," he handed her the pages he had.

"I read through them last night with him," Cat informed the group.

"I'm surprised you kept your lips free long enough to," Jade commented with a smirk.

"What's _that_ supposed to mean?"

"Sweetie," Freddie slipped his arm around her, "she thinks we've done nothing but kiss since we got back together. And to be honest we have done a _lot_ of it," he grinned at her; she grinned back and, as if to prove the dark brunette's point, swooped in to give him another little peck on the lips.

Tori was particularly excited about Freddie's audition, not least because she hoped that if she was able to tag along at some point then she, too, would be recognised from the play and she might get her own small part – or at least start to build up some contacts and do a little networking.

Beck was even more relieved than the others that the worst was behind him regarding his sickness; the long-haired Canadian was putting the finishing touches to a one-act play he was writing for one of his classes (the same class Freddie had taken the previous year for Mr Allen – where he had first met Lindsey) and the deadline, the last day before Spring Break, was fast approaching. He was confident of getting it done but appreciated that some sacrifices would need to be made; he was going to miss out on fencing this week (though it was doubtful whether Freddie would be attending if he had his audition) and would have to cut back on the time he and Jade spent together outside of school, though he somewhat mollified her with the prospect of long days spent together over the Spring Break as, unusually, he wasn't going up to Canada to see relatives next week.

The former iCarly, meanwhile, had another busy evening in store. As usual on a Tuesday he would be heading to the gym with André; he had agreed to head over to Cat's home afterwards (he insisted to the girl that they would need to get some homework done while they were together, even though he was sceptical about exactly how much they'd find the time to do given how they were currently spending their time in one another's presence). He also had another task he wanted to get on with before heading to the gym; again he rushed home from school and booted up his PC, though this time he loaded up the web chat software, having earlier texted Carly to check and see if she would be on-line.

Like Sam, the Shay siblings had been thrilled when he gave them his news; Carly, especially, had been happy for him though a part of the brunette still felt a little twinge of jealousy (especially as her own relationship seemed to be fizzling out a little; she was sure that it had nothing to do with her accident – Mike wasn't that shallow, nor were her injuries _that_ serious or permanent – but it was still disappointing for her to be looking at another relationship that ended in failure and disappointment) but she was relieved that they were, at last, back together and asked if he could call her sometime when he and Cat were together so that she could finally apologise properly to the girl for her part in their original split. Spencer was glad, though, when Carly's current boyfriend actually called, in the middle of their web chat, as it gave him a chance to talk privately with the Los Angeles-based boy, continuing the conversations that the two had been having ever since his trip up to Seattle after the web hostess's accident (from which she was slowly recovering, albeit she was still on crutches as she waited for her ankle to heal; she had her first appointment about physiotherapy and rehab later on in the week; to her regret, her recovery from injury meant that she would be unable to make it down for Spring Break. Freddie was disappointed, both because he'd liked to have seen the girl again and because he hoped to one day help reconcile her with her blonde former best friend).

"How are you getting on with… the other stuff, Freddie?" the sculptor asked.

"I've been getting better since I opened up to you; the last month has been a lot better for me," he confirmed.

"Good to know; and have you come across Lindsey since then?"

"No I haven't," he admitted, a note of caution entering his voice as he thought back on his blonde ex-girlfriend. "I guess that will be the big test – maybe even more so now that Cat and I are back together."

_Valentine Residence_.

The redhead in question had been, to her parents' surprise and delight, even more bouncy than usual over the past couple of days. They had expected, given her mood on the Monday morning, that she would be in low spirits for a few days so to learn that not only had she quickly shaken off the gloom but was actually happier than they had seen her in a long time was good for them to see. They had been a little surprised by the unexpected twist in their daughter's love-life but were pleased to see her bouncing off the walls again – and they always _did_ quite like Freddie when the two were dating before. He had spoken to them briefly on his two visits to the Valentines' home the previous evening (to collect and drop off Cat after their time together at his place) and also got on well with their new puppy. The only slight wrinkle on the horizon for the couple was that they wouldn't be spending too much time together over Spring Break; something they talked about while Freddie was there that evening.

The young couple were sat together on the couch; Cat pressed herself close to her boy's side and his left arm had pulled her into a cuddle. Neither of the Valentine parents seemed unduly concerned or troubled by the teens' closeness or mutual affection (every few moments, it seemed, Cat would lean over and steal a kiss from her boyfriend – and giggle uncontrollably having done so).

"We'd just assumed that you'd want to see your brother – and, after you dumped Daniel on Sunday, maybe get out of LA for a little while – so we booked flights yesterday morning to go to Idaho and a hotel to stay there for most of the week," Mr Valentine explained.

"Oh that's ok, it will be good to see him again," Cat said with a smile. "I'll miss Freddie though," she squeezed his arm playfully and snuggled ever closer to him on the couch.

"I'm sure we can make up the lost time when you get back," he half-joked, planting a peck on her temple; she giggled yet again in response.

_Hollywood Arts High School,_

_Wednesday, 31__st__ March 2010_.

'Making up for lost time' had happened a lot for the newly reconciled couple over the last two or three days; Cat was still taking every opportunity she could to kiss Freddie – something he had thoroughly encouraged. Unfortunately this had led to the pair getting into a little bit of trouble at school when she pounced on him and they wound up virtually making out in the middle of their Maths class, having just finished some of their work. They might have been able to get away with it, with their teacher (who liked Freddie as his best, most able and most attentive student – and who had also helped Cat along in one of her weaker subjects) turning a blind eye but for Cat's loud giggles; their teacher finally told them that he had no choice but to give the pair of them detention for their disruptive behaviour and advised them to be rather more discrete in the future, saving their affection for more appropriate times and places.

Their detentions had originally been set for the following evening, though Freddie asked if his could be moved to Friday as he had an audition to attend (to prove it he showed his teacher the e-mail from the studio on his phone). The Maths teacher had been willing to accommodate him (despite not _really_ wanting to supervise a detention on the last evening before Spring Break) as he admitted that he felt that having the couple in the same detention would simply result in them spending their whole 'punishment' in lip-lock; voicing this drew yet another laugh from the red velvet-haired girl which seemed to confirm his suspicions.

"How was your talk with Daniel?" Freddie asked Tori when the gang met for lunch in their usual spot.

"It uh… it went," she replied, to general confusion. "We sat there and we talked, we tried to figure out what's going on with us and we… didn't really." Seeing that she had done nothing to overcome her friends' confusion with her explanation she attempted to elaborate. "I mean there were all the reasons that we broke up to begin with, y'know? So while I still had a few feelings for him somewhere I just don't know if that's enough to go chasing him again," she finished weakly.

"So where did you leave it between you two?"

"We're going on a date on Saturday," she disclosed. "We'll see how it goes and decide what we want after that."

"At least you both know where you stand," Beck nodded.

"What about this other guy, uh – Steven?" Cat asked.

"I'm going to call him tonight and talk to him," she explained. "I don't _think_ it's going to work out with Danny – and he _did_ give me his number so it would be rude not to use it," she finished with a smile.

_Vega residence_

"Hey Steven, I've been trying to call you all evening; I thought I had the number wrong," Tori was relieved, having finally been able to get through to the boy she had met in hospital a couple of days earlier.

"Oh, yeah, I was on a plane," he explained.

"Really? Where are you?"

"Seattle."

"Seattle? Why? How long for?" the brunette was bewildered by this turn of events.

"I guess I didn't get time to explain everything," his voice sounded a little weary. "See, my parents are divorced and have shared custody. I'm home-schooled by them and I spend half of my time with each of them – one month in LA then the next in Seattle. So I'm up here for the next month."

"A month?" she yelped.

"I know it's a shock – and not what you're looking for in a guy, only being there half the time. But, once I'm back, call me if you're still interested and I will _happily_ take you out somewhere."

"Uh, ok, I'll let you know," Tori responded weakly.

_Asphalt Café_

_Friday, 2__nd__ April 2010_.

Tori was stood at the hatch to the Grub Truck; the brunette was wafting a hand, trying to get rid of a couple of bees that were swarming around her.

"Uh, let me have a turkey sandwich on whole wheat with lettuce, tomato, and a little light mayo," she requested of Festus, the truck's Yerbanian owner.

"All I got are burritos," he replied.

"You know what? I'll have a burrito," she told him.

"One burrito," he screamed into the truck; Tori peered past him in confusion as André joined her by the truck.

"What's shakin', bacon?" he greeted her.

"Oh, they don't have bacon," she answered.

"Just burritos," Festus confirmed.

"Cool. Well, I'll take a burrito," the talented musician requested.

"One burrito," the chef shouted into the truck again.

"Who's he yelling to? He's in there by himself," André observed; Tori was too preoccupied to answer.

"Get away, stupid bees," she wafted at them again.

"Don't even _mention_ bees In front of me," her classmate lamented.

"Why, are you allergic?" she asked.

"I don't know. I've never been stung by a bee; not once in my whole life."

"And _why_ are you so upset about that?" she pressed.

"Because I'm offended. I guess bees don't think I'm good enough for stinging."

"I could stick you with a safety pin," Tori offered.

"Nah, it wouldn't be the same," he declined.

"Okay, here you go. Turkey sandwich on wheat, lettuce, tomato, light mayo," he handed Tori her original lunch order.

"I thought you said you only had burritos," she pointed out.

"What are you, a lawyer?" he challenged her. "Burrito for you," he handed it to the songwriter.

"Thanks, man," André accepted his food.

"Oh, what is with the bees today? They're like all over me," Tori complained as they headed for their usual table.

"Must be nice," the boy's tone was wistful.

"Hey, sit," Beck called as they approached.

"Thanks," Tori took a seat.

"Cool," André sat next to her.

"Ugh. Can't we just have a lunchtime to ourselves?" Jade complained to her boyfriend.

"Just ignore her," Beck told the new arrivals calmly, giving his girl a quick cuddle. "She's just grouchy 'cause she got stung by a bee."

"See that? Everybody but me. Come on, bees, what's a guy gotta do to get stung?" André demanded; the couple looked at him in bewilderment.

"So where are Freddie and Cat? Still making out somewhere?" Tori asked her friends.

"Freddie's hiding inside so Cat's in there with him. They probably _are _making out," Jade confirmed with a smirk.

"Why are they hiding?" the half-Latina wondered aloud.

"Because Freddie's deathly allergic to bee stings," the darker brunette explained, "he reckons it's one of the reasons that his mom's like she is; he was stung as a young kid and went into severe anaphylactic shock. She really thought he was going to die at one point – so now he stays out of the way when bees are around."

"Wow, I never knew…"

Just then, Tori spotted her older sister walking past the table. "Oww! I just got stung by a bee," the Vega family diva complained.

"Ah, her? Really?" André gave the world a disgusted look.

After the bell brought an end to lunch the teenagers began to make their way back inside; Freddie and Cat were stood with a knot of other kids on the stairs, having finally taken eyes off each other long enough to watch a break dancer in action at foot of stairs by lockers. They smiled at the conclusion of his routine and applauded his moves with the others. Tori was heading down from left hand stairs when she finally saw them and greeted them brightly.

"Hey, hey. Look at what I got!" After her disastrous attempts to learn to play the French horn she was setting her sights somewhat lower.

"A piccolo?" Freddie asked curiously.

"It's my new instrument," she explained.

"I thought you were learning how to play the French..." Cat began before being testily interrupted.

"It didn't work out!" the brunette cried loudly. "So now I'm a piccalist."

Freddie pulled his girl even closer to him before turning to the brunette and joking, "You still like French Kissing though?"

"Yeah, if I get the chance," Tori's tone was rueful while the red head just laughed.

"I love French kissing too!" she told them playfully.

"I figured _that_ out already," he smiled and gave her another quick kiss.

"Oh, you guys wanna hear 'Mary had a little lamb'?" Tori interrupted them.

"Oh, uh…" the couple sounded unconvinced.

"I'm playing it," the half-Latina told them in an annoyed voice.

"Fine," Cat sighed in resignation.

"Toot your pickle," Freddie tried to put his usual encouragement into his voice; he wasn't entirely successful.

Tori began playing; she stopped after a couple of bars as she saw the couple visibly wincing.

"What? Was it that bad?" The teenage couple looked awkwardly at one another as they deliberated on their responses.

"I like your skirt," Cat told her brightly.

"Man, will you slow up?" Robbie and Rex interrupted the conversation; the puppet was complaining as his handler walked rapidly through the locker area.

"No, we're late and I hate being late. Hey, any of you guys got gum?" he asked his classmates. "I didn't have time to brush my teeth this morning."

"Robbie, it's after lunch," Cat pointed out.

"I know, I missed all morning."

"Please give him some gum," Rex requested.

"Why didn't you Brush your teeth?" Tori asked.

"And why do you look all sloppy and gross and didn't show this morning?" Cat added.

"'Cause I've been having these nightmares," he told them in a low voice.

"What about?" Cat pried.

"None of your business," the ventriloquist snapped suddenly.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"It's none of your business," he repeated, raising his voice to talk over the arguing red head; Freddie began to frown at Robbie for upsetting his girl.

"You guys..." Tori tried to intercede.

"I gotta get some gum. I'll see you guys in class," he stomped off.

"Later," Freddie called; he couldn't claim to be _entirely _interested in the other boy's problems as he was losing patience with his insistence on hiding behind his puppet, something Freddie felt that he needed to get over quickly.

"Wait, was my piccolo playing really that bad?" she asked them pathetically.

Cat ran a sympathetic hand through the girl's hair. "Yeah," she told her softly.

"Tori," the tech producer began; the downcast brunette turned her attention to him. "You have a really nice piano in your living room. Why not ask André for some lessons on that? He helped me out with the keyboard." Tori looked miserably at him, wondering why she hadn't thought of that before. "Oh this'll cheer you up though," Freddie added brightly. "You said you wanted to read The Miss Fire script?"

"Yeah, but I thought you said they didn't give actors the whole script unless..." Tori began, stopping as Freddie waved a huge wad of paper at her. "You got the part!" she exclaimed jubilantly.

"Shh. It's not that big a deal."

"It's a huge deal," she insisted. "You're going to be in a movie with Melinda Murray. Congrats, dude." She punched his arm playfully.

"Thanks," he smiled.

"I say we celebrate Piccolo style," she stared playing 'Mary had a Little Lamb' again; Freddie and Cat looked toward one another grimacing.

_Benson residence, Hollywood Hills_

_Sunday, 4__th__ April 2010_.

"We're back mom!" Freddie called as he carried Sam's case through the door; the little blonde followed him a step behind.

"Samantha," Marissa welcomed her guest; the tone suggested that she'd clearly rather not be doing so.

"Hello Mrs Benson," the girl surprised everyone by mustering as polite a voice as she was capable of; Freddie smiled at her efforts.

"The guest room is all ready for you; I'm sure Freddie will help you take your bags up there," the matriarch moderated her tone slightly; Freddie wondered if she felt a little embarrassed that a girl she thought was nothing more than a common criminal had sounded more civil than she had.

"So," Sam's eyes shone as Freddie deposited her case on the floor of the guest room, "I get to see you and Cat together this week."

"Ah, I'm afraid not," he shook his head regretfully; her face fell as her mind raced at a thousand miles per hour, wondering if they'd somehow broken up again already. "She's gone to Idaho with her parents to see her brother; he's in a hospital up there. We said," he grinned widely and involuntarily, "a nice goodbye at the airport."

The blonde could barely keep the relief off her face; she matched his grin with one of her own. "But I'll hang with Jade and your other friends, right?"

"Oh yes, they'll be around this week," he confirmed, "and I know you'll be interested to meet _one_ of them, especially." He smiled at his friend's confused look; she thought that she had already met all of his friendship group from the school. "Nope, no hints," he teased.

"You know I can still beat it out of you Fredward," she mock-threatened; he sighed.

"I _suppose_ it wouldn't hurt to catch up with her a little sooner than I expected." He pulled his phone from his pocket and fired off a quick text, grinning again as he did.

Ten minutes later he was heading for the front door, having received a reply. "She doesn't drive," he explained to the curious girls in the living room, "so I'm going to pick her up and we'll be back in a few minutes. _Try_ not to kill each other," he sighed at them; Sam and Marissa looked edgily at one another.

* * *

"Hey Tori," he greeted his brunette friend. "Thanks for this; I'm sure you had plans."

"Nope, no plans for Tori today," she half-smiled. "It'll be cool to hang with you and your friend for a bit."

"So," he began as he was driving back towards his own home, "have you decided what to do about the two boys?"

"No, and I really don't know what to do," she complained.

"Well why not… spend the next month figuring out if there _is_ anything with Danny, while Steven's away. If there is, all well and good and if not then you can get in touch with Steven when he comes back," the boy suggested.

"Yeah, that makes a lot of sense," she nodded. "Last night went ok, though I still don't know _quite_ what to make of it all. I guess I could see him again a few times. Thanks Freddie."

"No problem," he replied jovially. "Here we are," the Corolla pulled into the driveway. Freddie led his friend into his home.

"Whoa, no way," Sam cried as soon as she saw the girl. "You've been holding out on me Freddie; you never said you went to school with…" She took a couple of steps towards Tori as she was speaking before pausing in confusion; it was an expression mirrored on the brunette's face.

"Have we met?" Tori asked, "you looked like you recognised me and I'm sorry but I don't remember seeing _you _before."

"No, I just… thought you were someone else," Sam muttered.

"See, not just me who thinks you look like Shelby Marx," Freddie joked.

"You really _really_ do, at first glance anyway," Sam agreed.

"Anyway, Sam, this is Tori. She started school with us…" he turned to the half-Latina, "just over a month ago?"

The girl nodded. "Yeah, I got a transfer to the school and," she shrugged," here I am. Freddie has made me feel so, so at home here."

"Yeah, he'll do that for you," the blonde smiled. "I met a lot of his friends in September; they're nice guys."

So, do you girls want to do something?" Freddie wondered.

"Sure, we could see what the others are doing and see if they've any plans," Sam smiled as Tori nodded beside her.

_Green Meadow Mall,_

_6801 Hollywood Blvd, Los Angeles_

André and Eli had arrived at the mall a little before Freddie, Sam and Tori. To the disappointment of the two ex-Seattleites neither Beck nor Jade would be joining them (they were taking advantage of the break to spend some more quality time together but promised to meet up with them later in the week before Sam left). Robbie meanwhile had claimed to be too busy to join them, though privately both Sam and Freddie suspected that he was simply terrified of the blonde girl – particularly the disdain that she had shown him and Rex on their last meeting.

"So when do you start working on the movie?" Eli asked curiously as they sat sipping smoothies; Freddie made a mental observation of how disappointed Cat would be that she missed out on this particular get-together.

"Movie?" Sam asked. "Since when are you in a movie?"

"Oh," he gave her an apologetic look, "I got the call a couple of days ago to go for an audition and they offered me a small part – a couple of lines."

"Dude it's a start!" Sam enthused.

"Tell her who's in it," André urged.

"Who?" the blonde pressed.

"Melinda Murray," he said casually.

"No way, that's _awesome!_" Sam exclaimed. "I can't wait to download it," bringing laughs from the rest of the table.

* * *

After Marissa had gone to bed (she was working the early shift the following week), having made the teens promise not to be up too late, Sam and Freddie sat in the living room with a supply of wahoo punch and a few DVDs.

"Have you seen Lindsey recently?" Sam asked cautiously.

"I haven't _seen_ her in months," he replied, "but she called me just before Carly had her accident and I went up to Seattle. I talked a lot to Spencer while I was up there and he really helped me figure a way through all of this. I'm getting there with it."

"Does Cat know yet?"

"No, nobody does except you, Jade and now Spencer," he disclosed.

"Is there a reason you're keeping _this_ a secret from her?" Sam pressed.

"I don't want to upset her – and knowing what went on _would_ upset her."

"You're going to have to tell her one day – especially if you two eventually get to the point of thinking about… being intimate," the blonde pointed out reasonably.

Instantly the boy's mind began racing; as much as he really _was_ getting over everything, the thought of 'intimacies' - even with a different girl - was an uncomfortable one for him. He was pleased, though, to find that he was able to avoid dwelling on the thought. _It likes I really am finally getting there_, he thought. "I'll cross that bridge if I come to it," he sighed. "For now, I'm happy, she's happy. I don't want to jeopardise that."

Despite not being fully convinced by his explanation, his friend nodded and turned her attention back to the screen.

_Greyhound Bus Lines_

_1716 East 7__th__ Street, Los Angeles_

_Friday, 9__th__ April 2010_.

The group, still Catless, were waiting just inside the door by the stand where Sam's Las Vegas bus was expected any time.

"I'm sorry that I missed seeing Cat," the blonde told her friend as the coach pulled in. "I'll have to catch up with you guys again over the summer."

"Definitely, you're _always_ welcome Sam," he told her.

"Tell that to your mom," she sniggered.

"I have," he returned her smile with one of his own.

"Jade," she nodded at the dark brunette; neither were really much for hugs so they left it at nods.

"Sam, it was good to see you again." The other couple had joined their friends during the week; on Monday they had driven to the beach in a couple of cars and the next couple of days they had hit the mall again and caught some of the new movies that were out. After a week of feeding and entertaining Sam, Freddie's wallet was a lot lighter but he had thoroughly enjoyed spending time with the girl again; he just wished that he had been able to get Carly there as well. _Next time_, he thought.

Farewells were said and Freddie walked the blonde to the bus.

"Y'know, you _didn't_ have to buy me a ticket; I'm happy going cargo," she smiled before it became a full laugh at his expression. "Thanks Freddie, I'll see you soon." She pulled him into a hug. "Good luck with Cat," she whispered into his ear before shocking him by kissing his cheek. Sam gave the Hollywood Arts friends one last wave through the window of the bus terminal before climbing aboard the bus.

_Sikowitz's Classroom, Hollywood Arts High School_

_Monday, 12__th__ April 2010_.

_The Slap Mobile _

_Tori Vega: Acting class with Sikowitz. YAY! Best acting teacher EVER. Weird, but good weird :D_

_Mood= Creative_

The brunette was on stage; the eccentric teacher stood to her right watching while the rest of the class looked on from their seats, all apart from Freddie, who was absent, and Robbie, who was asleep on his chair.

"What did you do to my pants?" Tori asked in a demanding voice.

"Good. Now, terrified," Sikowitz instructed her.

"What did you do to my pants?" she asked, putting real fear into each syllable; her teacher ran round from her right to her left hand side.

"Falling off a cliff," he prompted.

"What did you do to my pa-a-a-a-ants?" the girl waved her arms in classic 'falling down a long drop in a movie' action.

"Excellent," Sikowitz turned to the rest of the students. "Now, as you can see, the same dialogue can evoke an infinite number of emotions, depending upon how the actor chooses to play it. Like a robot," he prompted her.

"What did you do to my pants?" she asked in a mechanical-sounding voice.

"Wrong. Robots don't wear pants. It was a trick," the teacher did a celebratory dance; Tori looked on, decidedly unimpressed. "Tori, you may sit. I suggest using a chair."

"I'll give it a shot," she took her place next to Cat; Freddie's seat on the girl's other side was still vacant.

The boy in question entered at that moment through door by the stage. "Sorry, guys," he sighed, sounding rather tired for the first day back after the break; Cat bounced to her feet and took a few steps towards him.

"Hey, babe. How was working on the movie?"

"You know," he shrugged casually, but gave her a smile that suggested that she'd get the details later.

"Freddie, you're late," observed Sikowitz.

"I'm sorry," the teen began. "We were doing this scene and there was a problem with the lighting."

"Say it like a robot," he was instructed; he gave a curious look but…

"There was a problem with the lighting. I'm very sorry," he used a traditional 'robotic' voice.

"Wrong," the balding teacher called.

"Wrong?" the boy repeated in confusion.

"You said you were sorry and everybody knows robots don't have emotion and, therefore, cannot feel regret. You kids have got to do your robot research. Freddie, sit."

"Uh, actually," he contradicted, "in _Galaxy Wars_ and a lot of sci-fi they have androids and robots with the capability for a wide range of human emotions: fear, empathy - and regret. So a robot COULD say they were sorry."

Sikowitz's face wore an embarrassed look; he cleared his throat as Cat and Jade both smirked at Freddie's comeback. "Yes, well..." he continued awkwardly, "as we've clearly demonstrated, dialogue can impact a scene in many different ways depending upon—" he saw that nobody was listening to a word he was saying; the entire class was sat staring at the movie extra with rapt attention, "Dear Gandhi, I'm boring myself. Freddie, tell us all about the movie."

"Okay. Well, my call time was—" he was interrupted as Sikowitz dragged him onto the stage and took his seat, "Right, right. My call time was this morning at 5 a.m."

"Oh, that's early," Cat noted.

"Yeah; it's why I had to leave your place a lot earlier than we wanted to last night," the two chuckled while their classmates looked from one to the other. "Well, they did my hair and makeup and then the costume designer came to my dressing room and..."

"Wait, the costume designer was _in_ your dressing room?" Tori asked.

"Uh-huh," he confirmed.

"Was she cute?" the brunette giggled flirtatiously, though both Jade and Cat looked annoyed with her line of questioning.

"He wasn't really my type," Freddie shrugged, drawing more giggles from his girl.

"Did you meet Melinda Murray?" André asked curiously.

"No, not yet."

"I bet she's been stung by a bee," he commented wistfully; Tori pulled a face and turned to look at him.

"I wouldn't know. If she's anything like me then hopefully not. But you can ask her yourself," he offered.

"What?" Tori thought that she was hearing things.

"The assistant director told me they need extras for a couple scenes. So if any of you guys are interested in doing it..." he tailed off as he was instantly mobbed by a mass of would-be volunteers.

The bell rang as the students were still pleading with him for inclusion in the movie. "Everybody read chapter seven for tomorrow... and study robots," Sikowitz instructed them before patting his pockets. "Good Gandhi, I left my harmonica in the men's room." He dashed off to find it.

As the class began to dissipate Cat noticed that the puppeteer was still asleep. "Robbie, Robbie, wake up," she nudged him as Freddie picked up their bags from beside her chair.

" I'm not a tissue," the curly-haired teen yelled as he was pulled from his nightmare. "Where is everyone?" he looked around the now empty room.

"Class is over. You slept through it," the redhead explained.

"You didn't miss nothin'," Rex told him.

"You didn't sleep again last night?" Freddie asked in concern.

"No. I can't stop having the disturbing nightmares," he lamented.

"Okay, you've got to talk to Lane or someone about this," Cat insisted.

"No. School guidance counsellors are bad news, trying to get all up in young people's heads," Rex argued.

"I'd agree that you talk to someone but not necessarily Lane," Freddie backed up his girl, though he still didn't trust Lane after the stunt he pulled with Tori.

"I know what he did that upset you," Cat turned to her boyfriend and pulled his fingers playfully, "but he helped me get over a lot of my emotional problems," she addressed the last part to Robbie.

"Nah, you're still a mess," Rex told her; she pouted, Freddie looked furious.

"WHAT, Robbie?" he demanded.

"Huh, I didn't say anything!" he protested his innocence.

"Yes you did and I won't let you hide behind your puppet," the muscular teen told him.

"Hey!" Rex complained.

"You will NEVER insult my girlfriend again. Is that clear?" Freddie's voice was murderous; Robbie spluttered as he attempted to respond.

"Is that _clear_?" the tech producer repeated.

The boy was just starting to nod and formulate an answer when Sikowitz returned to the classroom, triumphantly holding up his harmonica. "It was in the toilet," he told his charges before blowing it; he made a face. "That's a disturbing taste," he noted.

Freddie threw one last look at Robbie, took Cat's hand and together the young couple left.

_Parahill Studios,_

_Wednesday, 14__th__ April 2010_.

_The Slap Mobile. _

_Tori Vega: Going to be an EXTRA in a REAL MOVIE! BOOO-to-the-YAAA!_

_Mood= Double Pumped_

The stage was set out like a restaurant; Cat, Jade and Tori were sat at one table together near the back of the set.

"Yeah, I'm in the scene we're about to shoot where Melinda Murray's character meets her former partner in the restaurant," André told a girl from the behind the scenes staff as they chatted by the refreshments table just behind the camera's position.

"Oh, that's cool. What part do you play?" she asked him with interest in her voice.

"Well, I don't have any lines, but—" he began.

"Uh," the girl scoffed and walked away. "Oh, you need to go? Okay," he waved after her and walked across the set to join his female classmates at their table.

"Hey, we saw you working that hot girl over there," Tori noted teasingly.

"Yeah, I think she's into me," the boy bragged.

"Right," Jade drawled sarcastically. "We could tell by the way she ran screaming from you."

The director interrupted with a loud call. "Okay, people. People, listen up. Melinda's on her way to set. First positions, please."

"First positions," Cat called as she did a quick run around the stage; most of the cast gave her a funny look, apart from Freddie.

"She's just trying to help," he told them quietly. "At least she's enthusiastic," he shrugged.

"She's your girlfriend isn't she?" the director guessed.

"Yeah," he confirmed with a smile. "She sure is."

The man just nodded at his young bit-part actor; Melinda Murray arrived and took her seat at a table right in front of the camera.

"All right," the cast were receiving their instructions. "Now, on 'action', Melinda and Jeff will start their dialogue and then our waiter, ah..."

"Freddie," the boy supplied.

"Freddie," the director repeated.

"My boyfriend," Cat proudly told the room.

"Her boyfriend..." the director echoed flatly before continuing in his more normal tones, "will come in, do his line, then move off to the left. Who's not ready?" When nobody would admit to it he concluded, "Good. Roll."

"Rolling," called the cameraman.

"Speed. Seventy-four apple, take one... and action."

All eyes turned to the star and the man she was sat with. "Why the disgusted look on your face?" Jeff asked.

"I'm having dinner with you," Melinda replied with disdain.

"See, that's the kind of attitude that got you fired," the co-star reasoned.

"I got fired because I was set up," she insisted.

"Good luck proving that," his sarcasm was unmissable.

"I don't have to prove anything. All I needed is..." she was interrupted by Freddie.

"I'm sorry; the chicken breast isn't available today."

Melinda broke character in an instant. "Wait, what'd you just say?" she demanded. "Cut. Can we cut so this guy can learn his line?"

"Hold," the director called. "Melinda, please. Only the director yells cuts."

"He said his line wrong," the star insisted. "He's supposed to say, 'we're out of the chicken breast.' Not, 'the chicken breast isn't available today.'"

"So let the script supervisor tell him that," the director requested.

"I'll look over my script and I'll get it right this time," Freddie promised.

"Why do you need to look over your script? Are you a moron?" she railed. "I just told you what the line was. Just do it right."

"Great, all right," the director sought to bring people's focus back. "Let's do this again. Roll."

Tori, meanwhile, had been checking her own copy of the script. "Wait, excuse me. Actually, Freddie got his line right."

"Tori... shhh," the Seattle-born teen pleaded.

"What?" the director asked, confused.

"Sit down," Jade hissed urgently.

"See? Waiter number one's line is, 'I'm sorry, the chicken breast isn't available today,'" she explained, showing the appropriate part to the crew.

"Oh, yeah. Kid, you had it right," he told Freddie casually.

"Whoa, whoa. What are you?" Melinda demanded of the half-Latina.

"Tori Vega. Background player, big fan. Hi, Melinda Murray," she enthused.

"Okay, an extra is correcting me on the set?" the star was furious.

"I'm sorry, but you yelled at my friend and he was totally right about..." Tori tried to explain.

"She's your friend?" Freddie was challenged.

"Yeah, she's..." he began.

"Go," she demanded.

"Go?" he asked.

"I want you off this movie," the diva told him.

"Melinda," the director sought to calm her.

"You want him here or me?" The Hollywood Arts kids exchanged horrified looks.

"Kid, I'm sorry," the director told Freddie.

"No. It's cool," he assured him before walking off.

"No, no, no, no, no, no. Why'd you get mad at him? I'm the one who corrected you," Tori reminded Melinda.

"Good point. Bye," she told the brunette.

"But—" the girl stammered.

"Out!"

"But what if I—"

"Go!"

"Oh, that's not what I wanted to happen!" she lamented.

_Asphalt Café, Hollywood Arts High School,_

_Thursday, 15__th__ April 2010_.

A dejected Tori was sitting with André at the table that she and her friends usually used; her songsmith friend had a portable, battery-powered keyboard with him. She had yet to see Freddie all day, not that she could blame him though she _had_ received a couple of uncharacteristically filthy looks from Cat – along with a few more expected ones from Jade – when she had passed the girls in the corridor. She had tried apologising again to both of them but she was worried that Freddie was avoiding her, though again, she couldn't really blame him for doing so.

So it was to her surprise that she saw the boy walking towards her; to her concern, however, she was flanked by the red head and the gothic girl, both of whom still looked annoyed as they spotted her (Beck was busy rehearsing his play).

"Can we sit somewhere else?" Jade asked as Freddie made to join the pair.

"Come on," he urged her.

"I agree with Jade," Cat surprised her boyfriend by speaking up like that; she also threw Tori another look, though Freddie sat with them anyway.

"Fine, we'll sit with the girl who can't keep her mouth shut and got you fired." The two girls reluctantly flanked the brown-haired boy while André played a dramatic riff on his keyboard.

"Why?" Tori asked him, giving him a confused look.

"'Cause you know what's great about movies? The musical score. Whenever stuff happens, you always hear the perfect music to go with it. See there's drama here so…" he repeated the riff.

Tori looked balefully at him before turning with an apologetic look to the boy who had lost his job. "Freddie, I swear if there was anything I could do to make it up to you, I would."

Jade frowned for a moment, biting down a retort before saying, in an icy voice. "You know, if you really wanted to help, you wouldn't just sit there like a bag of doorknobs. You'd do something." She got up and began to walk away.

"Where are you going?" Freddie asked her curiously.

"Anywhere else!" she snapped.

"Yeah, I'm suddenly not hungry either," Cat told her boyfriend. "I'll see you next class," she gave him a kiss, intending to make it a brief one but deciding to lengthen it (both hoping to cheer up her boy and maybe just annoy Tori a little bit too) before joining her best friend; Jade was waiting for her a few paces away.

André shot a glance at a concerned-looking Tori before playing another dramatic piece; Jade walked back to the table.

"Okay. Open this," she took the batteries out and pocketed them, "and that's for you." She and Cat departed.

"Wah, wah, wahhh—" he hummed.

"I'm so sorry," Tori told Freddie shamefully.

"Stop saying that," he gave her a smile.

"Don't let it get to you," the songsmith encouraged her.

"No, she's right. I should go apologise to Melinda Murray and get Freddie his job back."

"It won't work but I appreciate the thought," he told her. "Whoa," he jumped from his seat as he spotted a bee flying towards the table; it settled on André's shoulder as Sinjin walked by. The bespectacled blond slapped it.

"Ow! What was that for?" he demanded.

"There was a bee on your shoulder." Freddie lifted his head and looked nervously around him to see if there were any others in the vicinity.

"And you killed it before it could sting me? Thanks a lot, man."

"What did I do—" the confused teen asked.

"No, just go on. Get out of here," the musician snapped in disgruntlement before all eyes turned to Freddie as he leapt to his feet.

"If there are still bees around then I've got to go," he announced and rushed inside. From another table, where she and Jade were sat, Cat saw him speed off. The two girls traded quick, concerned looks before the redhead jumped to her feet and rushed off after him.

"Come on, bee, breathe. Wake up, man. Sting me," André implored it.

"André, he's gone," Tori put a sympathetic hand on his arm.

"I know," he conceded.

* * *

"Freddie, are you ok? Why did you run off like that," Cat asked her boy as she caught up with him by his locker; he was taking a steadying breath after sprinting inside, much to the confusion of the students milling around the hallway.

"A bee landed on André," he wheezed, "I had to get away from there, just in case."

His girl nodded. "Maybe we should just stay in on a lunchtime until we're certain that bee season is over," she suggested. "I'm sure we can find _something_ to do with the time," she grinned wickedly; it was a grin he willingly matched as she closed the short distance between their lips once again.

"Oh I need to get something from my locker," she noted as the bell ended their little make out session. "You go on, I'll see you in class."

"Ok, sure, see you then," he told her and headed for their science class.

Tori had just entered the main building when she spotted the girl bending down at her locker; she walked up to the red velvet-haired girl nervously.

"Cat," she began cautiously, "I know I'm not your favourite person right now... again, but will you help me get Freddie his job back."

"Sure, what can I do?" she asked, smiling at her friend's conciliatory tone and desire to put things right.

"I need a distraction – and you're good at distracting people," the brunette explained.

"'kay 'kay, let's go," she took the other girl's wrist and they headed straight for the parking lot.

_Parahill Studios_.

_The Slap Mobile. _

_Tori Vega: Going to studio to get Freddie his job back. Brought Cat. Her hair is VERY red._

_Mood= Buggin'_

The two girls peer around a door behind a security guard; he's stood by water cooler with his back to them, taking a drink. They nodded and split up; Cat crept behind him to the left, Tori headed to the right towards the set. He spotted the brunette trying to sneak through.

"Hey. Hey, miss." Tori stopped and turned to face him. "Hey."

Oh, hi," she noted as if she had only just seen him.

"You got some I.D.?" he challenged her.

"I.D.?" she asked.

"What's your name?" the guard tried again.

"Oh," she floundered for a few moments before reading the bottle on the water cooler. "I'm Crystal Waters. It's okay, I'm on the movie." She turned away and tried to walk off unchallenged; the guard was having none of it.

"Crystal Waters?" he consulted his name list. "I don't remember seeing the name Crystal Waters—"

Cat supplied her 'distraction' at this moment; the redhead rushed up to the guard and grabbed him. In a hysterical voice she wailed, "I can't find my mother."

"What? Who are you?" the guard was bewildered by this latest turn of events; she grabbed his arm and pleaded.

"Help me find my mother. Please." The girl started to scream. "Mom."

"Shhh," he begged.

"Mom," the girl repeated.

"Shut up. We'll find your mama," the guard surrendered; they headed off together leaving Tori free to make her way towards the set.

"Hi, I'm on the movie," she told one of the backstage people as she passed her before spying her target with her back to her in a group of people. "Hey. Excuse me, Melinda? Listen, I'm the girl you got mad at for correcting you about the waiter's line in the script? And I just wanna say I was—"

'Melinda' turned around to face her, revealing that it was actually a middle-aged male stunt-double in a blonde wig.

"Oh," she remarked.

"I'm Melinda's stunt double," he informed her, checking the girl out. "So what's your name?"

"I'm fifteen," she pointed out; his face fell.

"Later," he walked off.

_Music Room, Hollywood Arts High School_.

Freddie was relieved that he was in the same class as Jade for the final period; Cat never showed up for their science class and wasn't answering her phone or any texts that he'd sent; his concern was increasing by the second and he hoped that the girl's best friend would know what had happened to her. He took his seat next to the mean girl.

"Hey Jade, have you seen Cat? She wasn't in last period after she said she was just nipping to her locker before she'd meet me there," he told her with worry in his voice.

Jade's eyes flashed mischievously; she gently cupped his chin in her hand and stared at his face seriously, turning it this way and that a little for a few seconds before her resolve cracked and a small grin started to creep onto her face.

"Well she's not stuck to your lips so I don't know. Are you sure you didn't finally swallow her?" she teased.

"Stop it, I'm serious!" he told her lightly before grinning. "Are we really that bad?"

"Ohh, you're WORSE," she continued in her teasing tone before turning serious, "but it is so, so good to see you happy again Freddie."

"Thanks, Jade," he told her sincerely before checking his phone quickly. "There's nothing on her Slap page to say she's gone somewhere... oh hang on, Tori updated hers an hour or so ago... Oh my God I don't believe it," he palmed his forehead.

"What is it?" the dark brunette asked curiously; she took his wrist gently and pulled the phone towards her. "I am going to KILL her!" she exclaimed.

"Well, at least she's followed your suggestion and is trying to do something," he replied reasonably.

"I guess..." she admitted reluctantly.

"Oh hang on," Freddie's phone informed him of another change to the brunette's status, "she's updated again. Oh chizz..." he groaned. Jade looked at the device and her ire grew.

_Parahill Studios._

_The Slap Mobile._

_Tori Vega: Ahhh! I see Melinda... wish me luck!_

_Mood = Double buggin'_

"Alright, now," the director called as he strode the set. "When Melinda's character yells, 'get out,' Jake?" he called up to a guy outside of the camera's range; he was armed with a crossbow.

"Yo," the archer confirmed that he was listening.

"That's when you fire the crossbow, and the arrow should strike the wall right around here," he motioned to one of the pillars.

"Yeah," he confirmed his understanding. "Wait, what's my cue?"

"When Melinda yells, 'get out.'"

"Got it," he acknowledged.

"Okay, let's get ready to shoot one."

Tori had finally spotted the star. "Melinda, Melinda," she called.

"Ulch, who let you on the stage?" the diva complained.

"Look, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have corrected you the other day..." she began.

"Michael," she called, obviously wanting security to remove the teenager.

"No, no, no. We don't need Michael. No Michael," Tori insisted loudly. "Look, I just wanna say I'm sorry but you shouldn't get mad at Freddie because he didn't even know—"

"Just go away," Melinda interrupted.

"Come on, just let Freddie have his part back," she pleaded. "It's not his fault that I—"

"Get out!" the actress yelled, pointing Tori to the exit. Jake, hearing his cue, fired an arrow, right on target. Unfortunately that was where the woman's hand was; he and Tori both gasped in shock as the arrow sailed through Melinda's hand and she screamed.

"My hand! Oh my God!" People began milling around, panicking and trying to see what was going on.

_Music Room, Hollywood Arts High School_.

The last period had just finished; despite feeling distracted by their concern over the girls' antics Freddie and Jade had made reasonable progress on the song that they would be performing at the Full Moon Jam this summer (he would have _loved_ to have performed alongside Cat but they weren't in the class together this term).

"Oh, another update from Tori," Freddie commented as his phone alerted him again; he groaned a moment later as he read it.

"What's she done now," Jade asked in trepidation

"Trust me, you don't want to know," he told her; she didn't accept that, seizing his wrist again and reading his phone.

"Let me see..." she demanded; her expression darkened further still. "I really AM going to kill her," she snapped as the pair headed towards their lockers.

_Parahill Studios_.

_The Slap Mobile._

_Tori Vega: O...M...G. I just made a superstar get shot in the hand._

_Mood= Freakin'_

Melinda was still screaming as she lay on a gurney waiting to be wheeled to the ambulance that was standing ready to take her to the hospital. Yet again Tori found herself trying to apologise to the star.

"Melinda, I am so sorry. I never would've come-," she began before the diva cut her off angrily.

"This is your fault," she wailed. "Your fault! Ow. Will you just take me to the ambulance, please? Ow. Somebody get my ex-husband on the phone," she demanded. "Stop laughing!" she snapped at the amused onlookers.

The director, meanwhile, was talking on his cell phone. "No, I understand. No, I get it. I mean, it went right through her hand. Yeah. I'm sorry too." The call ended and he turned to his cast. "Okay, people. That was Melinda's manager. Because of the injury to her hand, we're going to have to recast her role."

Tori looked horrified at the fall-out of her actions.

"Wait," her co-star Jeff asked. "Melinda's not going to be in the movie?" he clarified.

"Nope," then he gestured towards the Hollywood Arts student with his phone. "Thanks to her."

The actors all turned to look at Tori; she quailed under their gazes. "I feel so bad about this…" she began.

"Bad?" the director interrupted in a surprised tone.

"We all hated her!" Jeff laughed and high-fived the director.

"She was a nightmare!" The teenager was stunned as all the assembled cast started to applaud her. "What is your name?"

The Security Guard she'd snuck by appeared; there was no sign of Cat. "That's Crystal waters!" he cried.

"Crystal Waters!" They took up her 'name' as a chant, hugging her, raising her arm in triumph and carrying her around on her chair while she looked on in stunned silence.

When some semblance of order was finally restored Tori approached the director in an attempt to complete her mission. "Look, I came here to apologise and to get Freddie his job back as waiter number one. Is there any chance..?"

"Sure thing now she's gone. According to Matt that kid's a great actor, it'll be good to have him back. A shame I can't rewrite and get him a few more lines," he shrugged regretfully.

_Valentine residence_.

Freddie had come over after his fencing class and the two teens were cuddling on the couch in the living area; Mrs Valentine had discretely retreated to the kitchen (Mr Valentine was still at work) in order to give the couple a little privacy.

"The studio called just before my fencing class," he told his girl conversationally. "I got my job back."

"That's great!" she cried, wrapping an arm around his waist. "Tori said that you would; she said she spoke to the director after Melinda Murray got shot."

Freddie had to laugh at the extraordinary turn of events; looking back it had been a crazy few weeks even by the standards of Hollywood Arts.

"She's had quite an effect on things since coming to school with us, hasn't she? Tori I mean."

"Yeah," his girlfriend agreed softly, "she lost you a job – and helped get it back again, she helped me with my make-up class which almost ruined a play, she hit Jade with a cane…"

Freddie bit his tongue for a second on that one. "She lost you a boyfriend too – though you got something of a consolation prize," he smiled.

She grinned at him before running her hand up his side to his cheek. "As I told her that morning, if I'd known that you still wanted me then she could have _had_ Daniel." He took a few seconds to process her words.

"_I_ wasn't sure what I wanted until I talked to her after opening night," he admitted. "You know Lindsey messed me up, I'm still figuring a few things out but I know I want _this_," he told her with quiet sincerity.

She pulled him towards her gently and they kissed again.

_Hollywood Arts High School,_

_Friday, 16__th__ April 2010_.

Tori spotted Freddie at his locker at the end of first period; she rushed down the main stairs towards him.

"Hi, Freddie!" she called.

"Tori Vega," he smiled.

"That's me," she grinned.

"Are you sure you're not Crystal Waters today then?" he asked curiously.

"You got the call?" she asked in a delighted voice.

"I'm back on the movie," he confirmed.

"Yay," she flung herself on him, pulling the boy into a hug.

Cat chose that moment to walk into the locker area; she didn't need anything but wanted the opportunity to see her boy briefly between classes. Her eyes widened as she saw them.

"GROUP HUG!" she yelled, leaping onto the pair; the happy trio dissolved into laughter.

* * *

**AN: Thank you so much for reading; I really hope you liked it. Please don't be shy about dropping me a review and letting me know what you thought. I hope to see you all soon for the next chapter. PD.**


	17. Chapter 17: The Birthweek Song

**AN: Hello everyone, welcome to the latest part of this story; I hope you're all well. It's been a… challenging week here but things are ok – better than Oklahoma and Woolwich anyway, please keep those poor people in your thoughts and prayers.**

**As ever a huge thank you to everyone who read, enjoyed and reviewed the last chapter.**

**Challenge King – Marissa 'chose' not to interfere; she may not have too many options since she knows Freddie **_**will**_** move out again if she pushes him too far – and she fears him potentially moving in with Cat (like the red-head she doesn't know what happened on his Prom night or the morning after). Freddie wasn't upset with Tori because they're friends and she was sticking up for him; he can appreciate that even if her actions had unintended consequences.**

**Fanfic-Reader-88 – A nice week for Freddie. I think why they were upset with Tori was that she ignored (or didn't know) the Golden Rule; the star is always right. You're right that Freddie will not take any mess from anyone, particularly where his girl is involved. As for Carly and Sam reconciling at some point… we'll see what the future holds for them.**

**Pbow – as I said to FR88, golden rule of Hollywood; the star is harder to replace than a two-line extra, especially if all the promotion and marketing trades on her name. As for Crystal – that gets addressed.**

**Agent-M – thanks, I'm glad you like it and hope you enjoy a little more Caddie this time around.**

**Darck Ben – thanks.**

**Nightmare Sired Muse – I'm glad that you love it. Like you I hope that Cat and Freddie stay together this time.**

**Guest – Cat regretted breaking up with him the first time and missing her chance to get him back; she's not going to do that again in a hurry. I think you may have misunderstood with regards to Lindsey; they didn't have any contact in that chapter – he was referring to the call she made about the Showcase in chapter 11 (Cat was there when he took it) and my other reference to her was simply to explain which class Beck was working on. As for Carly; she will get a chance to say something soon enough and **_**will**_** see them at some point. And, as I said above, maybe Freddie will get the chance at some point to help her and Sam reconcile.**

**In case you've not seen it yet, OneHorseShay wrote an alternative conclusion to chapter 15 (iComfort); it's located in the iCarly/Victorious cross-over section and is well worth a read. He's also updated **_**We Love Each Other**_** recently.**

**I think that's everything so here's the next chapter.**

* * *

Chapter 17: The Birthweek Song

_John Anson Ford __Theatres__, 2580 Cahuenga Blvd E, Los Angeles, CA_

_Tuesday, 21__st__ April 2010_.

Freddie had finally given in. Cat had spent the last couple of weeks trying to persuade her boyfriend to go to the theatre with her rather than just the movies, which they quite often did on a date. It wasn't that the red haired girl had anything against movies – on the contrary she loved the hours that the two of them spent together in the darkened cinemas of the _Green Meadow Mall_ (and not just because they could kiss and cuddle in peace during the 'boring bits' as she phrased the plot-building scenes, much to the tech producer's delighted amusement) but she also appreciated and enjoyed live theatre (it was something that she was thinking of pursuing rather than just being either a singer or a television or movie actress after graduation), having been introduced to it as a younger child by her 'Nona'. For this reason she was particularly enjoying the theatre class that they were doing this semester. A report was due the following week on a play that they had seen so Freddie felt that that he should, at last, go and see a play (otherwise he had planned to write a review of the play he himself had put on at school the previous year; thinking of that, though, led him to thoughts of Lindsey and down a road he'd still rather not take). He told André that he had to skip their weekly gym session this week and instead accompanied his girl to the show.

The boy enjoyed the production; he had expected to but he still felt that the lack of special effects or camera-work that a movie provided meant that the overall experience was different – not necessarily _worse_ but, as a technically-minded person, the effects and camera usage were the things he enjoyed analysing after watching a movie. If we went to a different show then it would, he mused, allow him to see how they coped on a stage in delivering some sort of magic that computers meant a TV audience could take for granted - and possibly allow him to mine it for ideas for his own future classes and productions.

"See, that wasn't so bad was it?" Cat teased as they left.

"No, it was great," he agreed. "I thought that it would be and the acting was really good. It could have done with a few more explosions though!"

"It was a _love story_," she swatted his chest playfully with her free right hand; her left was interlaced with his right, "not _everything_ needs an explosion you know."

"I know," he grinned back in mock-surrender. "It's still early, or at least mom's not calling in a freaked-out panic yet, do you want to grab a smoothie?" He suspected he knew what the answer would be.

"Sure, a smoothie sounds great," her voice was filled with excitement at the prospect.

"Oh, that looks interesting," he commented a few minutes later as they drove towards a mall where they could get their treats.

"What is it?" the curious Cat asked. "'Glow-in-the-dark-miniature-golf'," she read the sign advertising the place.

"Sounds like fun, maybe we should play one evening. Sherman Oaks isn't _that_ far from Hollywood."

"What is it?" Cat repeated; she wasn't familiar with the term.

"Well, you see," he explained, "it's like a golf course only a lot smaller, kind of on carpet instead of grass, they have scenery and obstacles instead of bunkers and water hazards – oh and you only use one club, the putter."

"Oh so it's baby golf? That sounds so cute!"

Freddie chuckled; her enthusiasm, and the term, sounded sweet to him.

_Vega residence, Hollywood Hills_

_Thursday, 23__rd__ April 2010_.

Tori was alone in her bedroom; the brunette's pear phone was pressed to her ear and she was deep in conversation.

"Yeah, sure, uh huh," she continued to pace the room, slipping her free hand subconsciously into her pocket as she walked, "_no_, I think you're right," she conceded, "I guess so. Uh huh, yeah, hopefully, ok, bye."

She rang off and huffed out a breath in frustration before throwing her phone into her pillow and turning to fall backwards onto her bed, letting out a groan of annoyance.

The half-Latina and her ex-boyfriend, Danny, had finally decided, after trying for the last couple of weeks, that there was nothing worth pursuing between them; it was a decision that deep down she knew was right, though it was a regrettable decision for her as it meant that she was, once again, between boys. Her mind thought about, and lingered on, Steven, the guy she had met in hospital recently; he was still in Seattle but had promised to take her out if she wanted him to once he returned. She stretched her left hand above her head and groped around for her phone; having finally located it she fired off a text to the dark haired boy.

_Benson residence_

A couple of miles away Freddie and Cat had no such worries; on the contrary they were enjoying having the house to themselves as Marissa Benson had been required to work some overtime after her shift should have ended and there was nobody to trouble the teens after Freddie picked up his girl on the way home after his fencing class – well, not in person anyway.

"Oh," Freddie commented as he felt his own pear phone G5 vibrating in his pocket; he wriggled out from under his giggling girlfriend and pulled himself into a sitting position on the couch. Cat instantly latched onto his free arm and pressed herself against his side, nuzzling at his neck and enjoying the fact that he was squirming against her as he tried to focus on his phone. "It's a text from Carly asking for a video-chat; want to talk to her?" he asked the girl, turning his head towards hers just far enough for her to claim his lips again.

"I guess," she shrugged after their kiss; the girl was still not entirely sure that she wanted to talk to the Seattle-based brunette after her part in breaking them up a year or so ago.

"It's up to you," he told her, softly and sincerely. "She _has_ said that she wants to talk to us together - to talk to _you_ - but if you don't want to then I can tell her that we're busy – or at a movie or something."

Cat didn't want to be responsible for him lying to his friend. "No, we can talk," she commented before restoring her now familiar predatory smile, "in a minute," she whispered huskily before attacking his lips once again.

A few minutes later Freddie had fired off a reply to Carly; he dashed upstairs to collect his computer and glanced in the mirror. He hurriedly tried to smooth his hair down with his hand in an effort to look a little less flustered by the time he spoke to his Seattle-based friend; the gesture was partially successful though it couldn't hide the flush in his cheeks from their activities. He set the device down on the coffee table and switched it on before leaning back on the couch; he opened his arms allowing Cat to slip onto his lap and linked his hands in front of her waist so that he could hold her steady.

"Hey Carls," he greeted her as her face and bedroom appeared on-screen through the video chat software.

"Hey," she replied; with difficulty she suppressed a look of surprise at seeing her friend with the red-haired girl in his lap.

"Hi Carly," Cat gave the girl a quick wave before her hand returned to Freddie's side.

"Hello Cat," the brunette smiled, trying her best to make it a genuine one as she swallowed down the pangs of jealousy she felt from seeing the two so happily together. "I guess I'll come right out and say it to start with then," she strengthened her tone, "_I'm sorry_," she told them genuinely. "I really do regret that I played some part in you two breaking up. It's… it's good that you're back together and obviously happy," she finished quietly, staring at her keyboard as she said this.

"Thanks Carls," Freddie could detect that his friend was still rather conflicted in what she was saying but didn't feel like it was time to press the matter; he changed the subject instead. "So how are you getting on? How's the leg?"

"Oh it's still there," she smiled goofily, pulling up the leg on her jeans as she waved the limb and her bare foot in the web camera's direction; her scar was still visible but the ankle was far less swollen than it had been when she first returned home from the hospital. "Physio is going quite well; I actually met a guy while I was at the hospital for one of my sessions. You know Mike and I broke up?" she prompted.

"I _didn't_," Freddie's reply was cautious, "I know you said you were having difficulties and that you thought it was heading that way but I didn't realise you'd actually finished with him."

"Yeah," the web-star's tone was a little melancholic, "but then I met Steven and got talking to him and we seemed to hit it off a bit.

"Cool, what's he like?" the boy was genuinely curious; Cat was pleased with the news too as she felt that it meant she was less likely to have to deal with the other girl trying anything again. Remembering that she had the advantage of proximity the redhead grinned internally as she thought of a way that she could keep her boyfriend's focus solely on her.

"Well," Carly began; her eyes lit up as she began to describe the new guy in her life.

_Hollywood Arts High School, Los Angeles_

_Friday, 24__th__ April 2010_.

"So we take the data that we put in the table," Freddie explained; he and Cat were writing up part of their science project before school started (it wasn't due until the following week but they had arranged to meet before school and try and get some of it done, given how busy Freddie's evenings in particular were and the fact that neither was too keen to be doing school work while they were together outside of the place), "and we plot it on our graph… here, here and here," he pointed to where the redhead should mark the paper, "draw a line through the dots and we're done."

"Awesome," she smiled happily, throwing her arms around him in celebration. Cat had, only slightly inadvertently, almost sabotaged the plan with her outfit today, a grey top over a pink, frilly undershirt, her dark blue skinny jeans and thigh length boots; it had certainly had the desired effect of garnering her boy's full, undivided attention (a little too much; he was having to work hard to keep his focus on their work), which was something she was revelling in.

"Ok, we still have about ten minutes before first period," he observed, "want to run for some iced coffee before Sikowitz's class?"

"Sure, let's go!" She threw her things into her bag and grabbed his arm. He laughed as he wrestled his own things, far more methodically, into his bag one-handed before allowing the voracious little girl to lead him from the library.

It was still a few minutes before first period; Tori was sat on the half-landing up the main staircase, just above the lockers. Her knees were drawn up almost to her body and she cradled her laptop on her thighs. The brunette frowned as she tapped away at some of the keys and stared at the screen. "No, no, no! Ugh, no." She pulled a face before smiling. "Hey," she said brightly before the smile dropped. "No," she declared flatly.

Cat and Freddie, as usual hand-in-hand, spotted their friend as they made their way down the staircase that led up to the right.

"Hey Tori," the little redhead called. The couple stopped a couple of steps above the half-Latina and Freddie slipped his right arm around his girlfriend's slender waist.

"Hi," he called to her.

"Yeah. Hey, hi," she uttered a distracted greeting.

"What are you doing?" Cat enquired curiously.

"Thanks," she told them, utterly distracted by her mission.

The teenage couple exchange confused glances; Cat shrugged, lifting the palm of her free right-hand as she looked at her boy, who responded to her questioning look by just stealing a quick kiss – this drew a broad smile from the girl as her musings were forgotten.

"So what's up Tori," the Seattle-born sixteen-year-old asked lightly, "you're not talking to us anymore?"

André arrived through the main door and looked to the trio. "Hey, what goes on?" he asked them.

"We're going to get some iced coffee," Freddie informed him.

"Oh, you mean you're going somewhere to make out for a while before class?" he teased gently.

"We're REALLY going for iced coffee," the cupcake loving teen insisted.

"Though we might make out a bit while we're there," Freddie admitted. Cat started giggling again and leant against him.

"Oh, a massage helmet! A stylish helmet that massages your head. That sounds fun, right?" Tori asked, as if noticing their presence for the first time.

"It could be," Cat supplied weakly.

"Uh, sure," Freddie shrugged equally unenthusiastically.

"No, it's awful," the stressed girl snapped in a high and frustrated voice.

"I hate helmets," Cat instantly observed.

"That's not good of an idea," her boyfriend supported her.

"It's a bad thing," André agreed.

"Oh," the brunette groaned, head almost touching the keyboard as she leaned forward in annoyance.

Cat reluctantly slipped out of Freddie's grip and took a seat next to her friend; she rested an arm on the other girl's shoulder.

"Why is she all..." André began to ask the couple; Tori interrupted hotly.

"'Cause it's only three days until Trina's birthweek."

"Her birth _week_?" Cat asked, confused once again.

"Don't you mean her birth_day_?" Freddie corrected.

"Yeah, you don't know my sister. She thinks one day isn't enough celebration so she calls it her birthweek. Now if I don't get her an amazing present, I'm gonna have to listen to her complain about it for the next six months."

"Alright, chill down. We'll help you through this," André told her.

"Totally," Cat enthused.

"Yeah," Freddie completed. He took a seat on his girl's other side while the musician sat a couple of steps lower down.

"Okay," Tori's mood was a little brighter.

"The perfect present for Trina," Cat pondered.

"Something amazing," André agreed.

Freddie, meanwhile, was distracted from the conversation as he stole another admiring look at his girlfriend. He was still surreptitiously sweeping his gaze up and down her when she raised her head; their eyes met and there was a big, playful smile on her face.

"Caught you looking," she teased lightly.

"Isn't that a boyfriend's right?" he wondered with a grin; she giggled once again and pulled him closer.

"Ok you two; you know what that gives me?" Tori interrupted. "Nothing!" she snapped irritably as her own problems overwhelmed her again; she still had no idea about a suitable gift for her sister. Freddie and Cat just continued to grin at one another.

"Oh, we need to go if we're to get the iced coffees," Freddie reminded his girl with a fresh grin, "we'll see you in Sikowitz's class," he took her hand and helped her to her feet; Tori looked at the couple with a slightly disappointed expression, "and then we'll see you and the others at lunchtime too; let's see if any of them have any ideas?"

"Yeah; maybe someone can help," Tori moaned.

"Don't pretend you didn't _want_ me to be looking at you," he whispered conspiratorially to Cat as they left; she didn't reply but her renewed giggles seemed to confirm his theory.

_Asphalt Café_.

Tori, André, Robbie, Cat, Freddie, Jade and Sinjin were sat together at their usual table; Beck was busy overseeing a rehearsal of his one-act play (in which Eli was acting). Sinjin was sitting uncomfortably close to Jade and staring dreamily at her, much to her growing annoyance; she tried to ignore him by busying herself with her phone.

"Suggestions for birthweek presents for Trina," Tori prompted the group. "Okay, André, start us off."

"Cheese," the songsmith volunteered; every eye turned to him with Cat looking particularly surprised at the proposal. Tori's look was one of pure disdain at the idea. "Let's not do cheese," he mumbled in embarrassment.

"Robbie?"

"Lotion or various lotions," the puppeteer suggested; Jade looked briefly up from her phone to give him an incredulous stare.

"Gross; Cat?" the brunette swiftly dismissed his idea.

"Well, for my last birthday," she began, "I thought my parents were going to get me a bike, but when I got home from school my brother was trying to cut off his hair so my mom started yelling at..."

"Jade?" the half-Latina interrupted swiftly the girl's latest random anecdote about her brother.

"I thought your last birthday was on the day of the summer kick back last year," Freddie observed, looking at his girl in mild confusion of his own.

"Oh it was; this was the day before when it happened; we had a small family party that night because I'd be at school for the kick back on the actual day," she explained.

"You should have said something to us; we'd have all tried to make things better for you." Cat smiled softly at her sweet guy and leaned into a cuddle with him.

"Jade," Tori repeated.

The mean girl continued to tap on her phone. "Yeah?" she asked in a disinterested voice.

"What should I get Trina?" Tori asked.

"Talent," she shot back; the others, minus Tori, sniggered their agreement.

"Oh, Jade is so pretty," the curly-haired blond boy sighed dreamily next to her.

"3, 2, 1," she counted down in annoyance; Sinjin ran away quickly while Freddie shook his head in disgust at the boy's behaviour.

"Does _anyone_ have a good idea about a present for Trina?" Tori was almost begging at this point. "Freddie, any ideas?"

"Well, what does she like?" he prompted before the shrill tones of a pear phone disturbed the group.

Robbie groaned, "It's my grandmother again."

"Who else would call you?" Rex jibed at his handler.

"Shh," the ventriloquist urged before answering the phone. "Hi, Mammaw. Ugh, another computer problem?" Cat giggled into her drink at his reaction. "No, Mammaw, I was not being sarcastic. Mammaw, don't...what? Mammaw, don't hang up on me."

"What's your grandmother bugging about?" André enquired.

"She bought a stupid computer and she can't figure out how to work it, so she calls me like every four minutes for tech support," he lamented.

"Oh, that's cute," the musician laughed.

"It's not cute. I was at her place for three hours last night and I have to go back again tonight."

Tired of the discussion and still at a loss for a present Tori snapped out, "Ok, what am I going to get Trina for her birthweek?"

Sinjin returned to the table; this time he stood behind the younger Vega sister. "How about a bobble head that looks like me?" he suggested, brandishing the offending item.

"My dad's a cop," the girl responded flatly.

"Moving on," the blond retreated again.

* * *

The final bell had recently sounded; Freddie was standing by his open locker, swapping a few items in and out. A few feet away Cat was doing likewise while also throwing brief, smoky glances in his direction. She was a little surprised to see Robbie approach him; the curly-haired boy cleared his throat nervously.

"Uh, Freddie?" he began. The tech producer closed his locker and eyed the teen; he still didn't feel _too_ kindly towards him after his (Freddie refused to let him attribute it to Rex) recent crack about Cat's mental health. The girl in question, having finished at her own locker, sidled over to join them.

"I wanted to say I'm sorry," he turned to Cat, "about what Rex…" Freddie coughed meaningfully, "about the joke about your emotional problems."

"That's ok," the forgiving girl shrugged and gave him a soft smile. He turned nervously to Freddie, whose disposition looked a little less friendly.

"Cat may have decided that all is forgiven – but my warning still stands," he observed neutrally.

"Right but… could I ask a favour," he requested timidly. "I could do with some help with my grandma's computer; she might actually listen to someone else and you know what you're doing with them so I thought…" he trailed off, giving his friend a hopeful look. Freddie shot a glance at his girlfriend; she was giving him an encouraging smile so he sighed in resignation.

"I guess I can go with you but we'll need to be quick; I have work at five and then Cat and I are playing glow-in-the-dark-minigolf afterwards." He had intended to surprise his girlfriend with the news and figured now was as good a time as any to let her know.

"Yay! Baby golf!" the cupcake lover cried; she flung herself on Freddie from behind and hugged him. He noted with renewed concern that Robbie didn't look too pleased with her affectionate gesture.

"But before we go there, I should warn you," the puppeteer continued cautiously.

"About?" the tech producer prompted.

"My grandmother. She can be… critical."

"You've met my mother," Freddie pointed out. "She can't be any worse."

"I guess not," Robbie conceded.

"What are you going to do before I get off work then?" the Seattleite asked the redhead.

"Oh she can help me," Tori joined the gathering, striding purposefully towards them. "I _really_ need to go and visit a few places to find a present for my sister. _Please_ help me," she begged the shorter teen.

"'kay 'kay," Cat smiled genuinely.

_Mrs Shapiro's apartment, Apartment 327, __1627 N Fuller Ave, Los Angeles_

Robbie and Freddie arrived outside apartment 327; Robbie knocked on the door.

"I have a gun!" a female voice called angrily from inside.

"Mammaw, it's Robbie," the ventriloquist sighed; Freddie gave him a slightly cautious look.

She opened the door to greet her grandson. "Hello, Robbie," she said warmly.

"Hi, Mammaw," he gave her a hug before gesturing to his colleague. "This is my friend, Freddie; he's really good with computers and he's going to help you sort _everything_ out."

"It's nice to meet you, Mrs. Shapiro," the tech producer said politely.

"You too, sonny. Come in. Come in, the computer's through there," she beckoned them; Freddie went on ahead towards the machine but she caught Robbie's arm as he passed her.

"He's your boyfriend?" she asked in a low voice; the bespectacled teen was horrified at the suggestion.

"What? No!" he gasped, scandalised at the thought.

"Good, you can do better," she told him.

"I'm not into boys!" he hissed out in exasperation to the elderly lady; she wasn't listening so he just followed his grandmother inside.

* * *

"No, Mrs Shapiro. Look, you just click twice on that little picture to open a window," Freddie explained.

"I don't want to open a window. It's already too cold in here," the lady complained.

"Not a window in this room," he explained patiently, "one on the screen."

"Maury, turn up the heat," she called to her husband.

"No," he snapped back from another room.

"Mammaw, a window is just this little..." Robbie began but was interrupted.

"So how do I e-mail this to my doctor?" she asked.

"Those are your system preferences; they're no good to your doctor," Freddie's voice stayed calm. "You need to open up your mail programme – like I showed you – and then find the right file."

"Maury, turn up the heat," she yelled again.

"No," he fired back; Robbie's grandmother hit the desk in response.

"Why does he do that to me?" she demanded.

Robbie buried his face in his hands at the thought of them arguing in front of a guest like this; Freddie, meanwhile, reflected that somehow his own family now seemed a little bit less insane.

_Vega residence._

_The Slap. Tori Vega: OMG - I finally found a GREAT birthday prez for Trina. Yeee-HOOO!_

_Mood = relieved._

With Freddie helping Robbie out and then heading to work, Cat had acted as chauffeur for their brunette friend as she raced around the local area trying to find her sister a suitable gift. The little red-head had seemed even more distracted and dizzy than usual; Tori suspected that she was just excited about playing miniature golf with Freddie later on, something the pink-handled putter on the back seat of the car seemed to support. After finally finding a gift she felt was suitably good for her sister the excited girl had called André over to see it. The songsmith arrived a few minutes after the girls got back to the Vega home, having first stopped at the Valentine house so Cat could change ahead of her date; she now wore a cream-coloured top top and a short flower-patterned skirt with red, high-heeled shoes (again she was looking to get her boy's attention with the outfit). They were sipping wahoo punches on the living room couches when the musician arrived.

"Thanks for today Cat; I am so, so grateful," Tori enthused.

"It's ok, it was fun hanging with you," she replied genuinely.

"Oh, that'll be André," the hostess commented at the sound of the doorbell; she opened it to reveal their friend. "Ok, I got the present, come with me," she slipped behind him and put her hands over his eyes, guiding him into the house. With unusual presence of mind, Cat closed the door behind them as Tori steered the boy into the kitchen. "Are you ready for this?" she asked brightly as they reached the kitchen table; Cat was grinning happily beside them.

"I don't know. I can't see," he pointed out. Tori uncovered his eyes.

"Look at them," she cried.

"Shoes?" he asked, feeling disappointed after such a build-up.

The two girls traded offended looks. "Boots!" Cat snapped in exasperation as Tori swatted his head.

"Fazzini boots," the half-Latina elaborated. "Trina has been dying for these. I had to go to eleven different stores before I could..."

She was interrupted by the sound of the door opening; she and Cat moved to shield the gift from view as the elder Vega sister entered the family home.

"Hello," she called jovially.

"Hey," Tori greeted her, equally happy now that her present dilemma was over.

"Hi," Cat chorused.

"What's up, Trina?" the musician asked.

"Okay," the brunette's eyes were shining. "What has two thumbs," she raised them in a triumphant gesture, "and is already having a fantastic birthweek?" She used her thumbs to gesture towards herself and declared, "This girl! Check out my kicks."

The soon-to-be-seventeen-year-old climbed onto the coffee table to show off her footwear. "Fazzini boots. Got 'em at Simone's – on sale." Seeing her little sister's face slump she added, "Oh, don't be sad. You could borrow 'em..." before sniggering, "after I'm dead." She jumped down from the table and shouted as she dashed upstairs. "Mom, I got Fazzini boots! Mom. Mom!"

"You're going to have to come up with another present," Cat pointed out unnecessarily as the older girl departed.

"I know that!" the younger sister snapped.

"I've got a cheese guy that could put together..." André began.

"I'm not giving her cheese," Tori shouted decisively. "Maybe I should just give up and accept the fact that I'm not going to find anything good and Trina is going to hate me for the next six months." She turned in desperation to her two friends and begged, "Help me."

"All right - uhh…" Cat began.

"How about a song?" André suggested.

"A song? As a present for Trina?"

"Yeah. You can write it, perform it yourself, you know, do it up real big," he was warming to his theme.

"That's a cool idea," Cat enthused; she turned to Tori, "I'll sing back-up if you like!"

"That is..." Tori began before pausing; her face fell again. "I don't know how to write a song," she complained.

"Think, what has two thumbs and knows how to help a friend write a song?" the musician prompted.

"Ok, is it someone we go to school with?" Cat asked; he sighed.

"This guy!" he gestured to himself with his thumbs.

The doorbell chimed again; Tori answered it to admit Freddie. "Hey," he smiled at them before addressing his girlfriend, "Are you ready for some 'baby golf'?"

Cat squealed and dashed towards him. "We'll catch you later, bye," she called excitedly.

"Uh, bye," Tori waved as the red-head left. Freddie gave her a smile before following his girl into the California evening.

_Sherman Oaks Castle Park _

_4989 Sepulveda Blvd, Sherman Oaks, CA_

Night had fallen on Los Angeles by the time the teens arrived (hence the 'glow-in-the-dark' concept). Freddie paid for them both to play a round and borrowed a fluorescent yellow ball and a putter from the desk. Cat had her own pink putter and selected a matching ball for her round.

The couple followed the path to the first hole; the starting area and hole were illuminated but the rest of the course was in darkness, making it tricky to identify the obstacles as anything more than rough shapes on the course. They could see small illuminated areas which Freddie assumed to be the other holes' start and end points, along with silhouettes of other kids around their age who were also playing. He, however, was relieved by the darkness as he felt that it would help him to focus more on his game; otherwise he suspected he would end up spending more time admiring his girl's shapely legs than he did concentrating on his putts. He did, however, suggest that in future she wore more appropriate shoes; in fact the course managers had refused to allow her on the course wearing them so she had to play the round bare-footed.

The tech producer took his first shot; the ball seemed to be sailing serenely towards the hole when it broke to the right, rolled into something and bounced back a few inches before coming to a halt about ten feet from the hole. His girlfriend clapped excitedly at the shot.

"It wasn't bad," he shrugged, "better if it hadn't gone off line like that at the end though."

Cat nodded and set her own ball down. She seized her putter and swung wildly at it, missing it and giggling at the fact. She repeated the action, with the same result, before her boyfriend intervened.

"Stop, stop," he said softly. "Try it like this." He stepped behind her and placed his hands over her wrists; the grinning girl couldn't resist leaning gently back into him, causing him to feel rather uncomfortable as he tried to focus on the task in hand. He gently swung the girls' arms, and her putter, back and forth. "So now try it with the ball there," he guided her into position and gave a small backswing before pushing gently through the ball; it rolled down the path heading just to the left of the hole, passing it before bouncing off the back perimeter of the hole and straight into it for a hole in one.

"Yay! I like this game," she cried, turning around and pulling the boy into a hug; she gave him a little kiss before taking his hand and leading him to where his own ball was waiting for the next shot.

Without his 'assistance' the girl's game didn't go quite so well; she was a number of shots behind her boyfriend as they started on the eighteenth and final hole. Cat didn't mind; she was enjoying just spending time with Freddie and really loved the game. He, meanwhile, was still trying to coach her on occasion. It didn't help when every shot, good or bad, had her dissolving into laughter, however.

"Ok," he smiled, walking into a floodlit area as the red velvet-haired girl finally sank her last putt, "so that's 44 for me – uh… five over for the round and – oh dear," his face fell a little as he counted up Cat's.

"What? How bad was it?" she grinned.

"Fifty-seven. You kinda lost it in the middle of the round with some bad holes," he gave her a sympathetic look; she just smiled back happily.

"It's ok; I had a lot of fun. We should come here again soon," as she laced her fingers with his and they walked back to reception to return his putter (their golf balls had been taken down a chute at the end of the hole and were currently in a bucket by the side of the course waiting for the staff to retrieve them).

"We really should; I've never played it in the dark like this before. It _was_ really good fun." The two walked to his car. "Do you have any plans for tomorrow?"

"I'm helping André and Tori with Trina's present in the afternoon; nothing after that though."

"How about a movie at the mall when I get off work?"

"Sure. Pick me up at Tori's again?"

He nodded his confirmation before driving the girl back there to collect her own car; they kissed goodnight and made their ways separately back to their own homes.

_Vega residence_

_Saturday, April 25__th__ 2010_.

Tori had recruited Cat and André to come over again; the red velvet-haired girl agreed given that her boyfriend was at work so she wouldn't be seeing him until later. The half-Latina was lying on one of the couches; her torso was on the seat with her legs above them resting her thighs on the back rest of the furniture. Her frustration with the task in hand had been growing by the minute as she struggled with the song that she hoped to perform for Trina. André was hunched over his keyboard on the other couch while Cat was in the kitchen, helping herself to a soda.

"Okay, how about this?" the musician suggested, playing a few bars of music for them.

Cat clapped excitedly. "I love that," she cried.

"Me too," Tori agreed, "but you really think we're gonna be able to have a whole song ready by Trina's birthday?"

"No worries," he reassured her. "And I'll get a banging band here, some girls to help Cat back you up, lights, it'll be the chizz."

"What is chizz anyway?" Cat asked, confused as to exactly what the term meant.

"I think it's a German sausage," André supplied; Cat smiled her acknowledgement. "Let's get back to the lyrics," he prompted the brunette.

"No. I can't write lyrics. Just play more stuff on your thingy," she urged him.

"I'll help you," the songsmith offered. "Just tell me some of your favourite things about Trina."

Tori looked genuinely stumped as she thought. From the kitchen Cat assumed she just hadn't been listening. "Tori, André wants you to tell him some of your..." she began to prompt.

"I heard him!" the brunette informed her.

"Come on, dig deep," the dreadlocked teen urged her.

"Okay. Okay," then she brightened as inspiration hit her. "Oh, how about she's the whole reason why I got in to Hollywood Arts?"

"Now you're digging," he complemented.

"Yay, I'm diggy," she replied with a happy smile.

"All right now, when you think of Trina, what's the first word that pops in your head?" he asked her.

"Crazy," Cat nodded vigorously in agreement.

"Crazy," the boy echoed.

"But, I love her," Tori mitigated.

"Have you told her that lately?" he asked.

"No," she replied thoughtfully. "Wait, are you sure this stuff is gonna help us write a song?"

"Let's see," he smiled, set his pad and pen down and returned to the keyboard. "_You might be crazy but have I told you lately that I love you and that you're the reason that I dah duh dah duh dahuh_."

The two girls traded approving glances. "You're good," the half-Latina complimented her male friend.

_Sunday, April 26__th__ 2010_.

_The Slap _

_Tori Vega: Ahhh! André, Cat and I are writing SUCH A COOL SONG. This will be the best present Trina EVER GOT!_

_Mood= PSYCHED._

The trio, plus a small band were preparing to perform Tori's new song, _You're the Reason_, when the elder sister returned home from an afternoon out.

"Hello," she greeted her parents as she entered the kitchen through the back door.

"Happy birthweek!" they chorused.

She hugged her parents before turning her attention to the birthday cake on the table; the girl made a wish and extinguished the candles.

"Where's Tori?" the diva asked, seeing no sign of her little sister.

"Over there," Mrs Vega supplied, steering her elder daughter towards the living area.

"She's got a _very_ special surprise," Mr Vega added, sitting the girl in a wheeled chair and manoeuvring her into the spacious area.

André, Cat and the others (minus Tori) stood up from behind the piano, where they were hidden from view, and got into position.

"What is going on?" the birthweek girl asked.

"Just relax," the songsmith pushed a button setting a dry ice machine in action; it spewed smoke across the room creating a haze. Tori took that as her cue to emerge from the upper floor of the house; Trina smiled as she saw her.

"_I don't want to make a scene, I don't want to let you down,"_ the youngest Vega began, as did the music, "_trying to do my own thing and I'm starting to figure it out – that it's alright, keep it together, wherever we go;_ a_nd it's alright oh well whatever, everybody needs to know._

_You might be crazy but have I told you lately that I love you? You're the only reason that I'm not afraid to fly._

_And it's crazy that someone could change me; now no matter what it is I have to do I'm not afraid to try. And you need to know that you're the reason… why!_"

The guest of honour was enjoying every moment of the show; Cat and the other girl were dancing and singing back-up for Tori and the little red-head was having almost as much fun as Trina was.

_"I don't even care when they say you're a little bit off,_" Trina looked a little shocked at the suggestion that some people would say such a thing about her. "_Look them in the eye I'd say I could never get enough, 'cause it's alright keep it together where ever we go; and it's alright oh well whatever; everybody needs to know._

_You might be crazy but have I told you lately that I love you? You're the only reason that I'm not afraid to fly, and it's crazy that someone could change me. Now no matter what it is I have to do I'm not afraid to try. And you need to know that you're the reason… why!_

_If it was raining you would yell at the sun, pick up the pieces when the damage is done. You say it's just another day in the shade. Look at what a mess we made…_

_You might be crazy, have I told you lately that I love you? You're the only reason that I'm not afraid to fly._

_You might be crazy but have I told you lately that I love you? You're the only reason that I'm not afraid to fly._

_And it's crazy that someone could change me, now no matter what it is I have to do I'm not afraid to try. And you need to know that you're the reason why!_"

Trina wore a broad smile, along with her party hat, when they finished.

"Happy birthweek Trina," Tori hugged her.

"Thanks!" the girl declared happily before asking her sister, "So where's my present?"

The atmosphere in the room changed in an instant and the temperature seemed to drop about fifteen degrees.

"Are you kidding me?" Tori snapped.

"No, where's my birthweek present?" Trina demanded.

"Mom, dad, could you please take everyone outside?" André palmed his face behind the older sister.

"But it's raining," Mrs Vega pointed out.

"Here's an umbrella," her daughter handed her one.

"This way everyone!" Mr Vega called. The parents and guests trudged outside. "Don't break anything," he urged his youngest offspring.

"No promises," she fired back as they left.

Outside the others were huddling under the pink umbrella, peering through the windows as the two sisters argued.

"Oh, I gotta go meet Freddie," Cat noted. "Bye!" and she shot off into the rainy night, still in her short, red dress that she had worn for the performance.

"She's going to be the death of him with those outfits," the musician muttered, shaking his head.

_Theatre Class, Hollywood Arts High School_

_Monday, April 27__th__ 2010_.

"But the most surprising part of the play happened at the end when the monster gouged out Pricilla's eyes which, for whatever reason, I found really funny. Questions?" Jade asked tersely as she finished her review; the dark brunette girl looked out to the class, flashing a brief smile at Cat and Freddie, sat together in the centre of the room. Robbie was sat off to one side with Sinjin in the back row; Jade took care to avoid looking at either.

"I have two questions," Sinjin raised his hand; Jade ignored him.

"Okay, no questions. Great, I'm done," she sat down.

"Thank you, Jade, for that disturbing report," the female teacher told her; the gothic teen smirked as she retook her seat just in front of Cat and Freddie. "Robbie, you're up."

"Right. Hello, everybody," he greeted them as he set up his laptop computer and hooked it up to the big screen in the classroom.

"Hi," Cat's voice was bright and she waved enthusiastically at her friend. Jade and some others turned to look at her; she sank back into her chair looking rather uncomfortable before smiling again as her boyfriend gave her a quick, consoling cuddle.

"My report is on _Vaudeville_," Robbie began. "Now, if you all look at... Oh, my God," he groaned as the screen flashed up that he had a chat request.

"Aww, your grandmother wants to chat," Cat piped up happily.

"Robbie, Robbie, Can you see me now?" the lady called. Jade and most of their classmates could barely contain their laughter at his growing discomfort. Freddie gave him a regretful look.

"Hi, Mammaw," he sighed. "Is this important 'cause I'm kinda in the middle of..."

"How do I open the internet?" she interrupted. The entire class, including the teacher, burst out laughing; Cat held her head in her hands and Freddie grit his teeth in an effort to control his shaking as giggles wracked through his body.

"Grandma, grandma, you're on the internet. We couldn't be video-chatting if you weren't on..." he began.

"Hey, Robbie, I see your puppet. Are you still taking your puppet to school?"

"Rex is not a puppet," the teen snapped.

"Oh my God, he ACTUALLY believes that," Freddie whispered to his girlfriend. "We have GOT to snap him out of this..." She nodded beside him as she tried to control her own laughter; it wasn't helped by Robbie's grandmother's next comment.

"Maury, Robbie still plays with his puppet!" By now the whole class was laughing hysterically at Robbie; Cat and Freddie looked at one another, no longer bothering to suppress their own sniggers.

"I'm in the bathroom," her husband bellowed, doubling the mirth of the class.

"Doing what?" the lady demanded; if possible this increased the kids' amusement even further. Robbie, meanwhile, groaned in total embarrassment as the sound of a toilet flushing transmitted across cyberspace and the classroom; Jade, in particular, was loving every second of his humiliation. "Robbie, Robbie, Robbie," his grandmother called; he just curled up into a ball and lay there on the floor.

"Freddie," the teacher gasped before composing herself as the tech producer gave her an inquisitive look, "maybe we should hear your report now." She disconnected Robbie's machine and handed it to him as he reluctantly got to his feet.

The Seattle-born boy nodded and made his way to the front, sliding a flash drive into the computer and bringing up his work.

"My report is on _In the Moonlight_; it's a play I took my girlfriend to last week," and he shot a smile at Cat; she giggled happily and gave him a little wave.

"You two are getting insufferable!" Jade complained lightly, though with a slight, detectable edge to her voice; it was one that the couple both missed.

_Tuesday, April 28__th__ 2010_.

_The Slap Mobile _

_Tori Vega: Still MAD at Trina. U reading this Trina? Hope so!_

_Mood= IRKED_

The brunette was stood by her locker between periods as Freddie and Cat walked by; Cat was laughing at whatever Freddie had just said (which, frankly, could have been almost anything).

"Hey Tori," the red haired girl waved.

"Hi," she returned flatly.

"What's your sister done now to get you all mad at her?" Freddie asked sympathetically.

"You know the song we wrote for her?"

"Yeah, Cat said it was really good and you all performed it really well," he observed; the redhead grinned at his praise.

"We did but Trina… well she didn't think it qualified as a present because I didn't spend money on it," Tori explained; Freddie nodded sympathetically.

"I can see why that would wazz you off," he commented.

"Say Freddie," she asked.

"Yeah?"

"Have you heard from the studio recently? I was hoping they'd have called for me to do the scene by now."

"Tori," he explained patiently, "_the lead role got re-cast_. They have to hold auditions, short-listing, see how people work together, after… last time, and then start reshooting once they've settled on whoever they want to play the lead. Once that's all done then we'll get our calls and they'll shoot our scenes."

"Ok, that makes sense I guess."

"That's what they told me when I got my job back anyway. Oh and they _do_ know that your name isn't really Crystal Waters, right?"

"Yeah… I _think_ so," the girl felt a little worry growing in her stomach as she really _wasn't _too sure whether they did or not.

"We've got to go soon," Cat reminded her boyfriend; she squeezed his hand and tugged his arm gently.

"Right, yeah, science and our report's due. See you at lunch?"

"Yeah, sure," the brunette waved them off weakly before opening her locker.

"Hey, Vega!" Jade called from across the hallway; Tori ignored her and continued to load things into her locker. "Tori," the dark brunette amended with a sigh.

The lighter-haired girl turned to her with annoyed look. "What?" she demanded.

"Try this coffee and tell me what it tastes like."

She accepted it and took a sip. "Hazelnut?"

Jade grinned evilly. "I don't know, I found it in the garbage." Tori spat it out but any further argument curtailed by Trina's arrival; the elder Vega was wearing a new, black, sparkly hat.

"Hey, Tori. Hey, Tori's friend," she greeted them.

"Yeah, I'm not really her friend," Jade walked off; Tori rolled her eyes at the other girl's intransigence despite them starting to bond a little after the whole 'Stage Fighting' thing.

"So listen..." the deluded diva began.

"I'm not buying you a present," Tori declared.

"Ah, you already did. This hat," she gestured to it.

"I didn't buy you that hat," the younger girl contradicted.

"Did too," her sister insisted. "Well, indirectly. See, I sold the song and used the money to buy the hat. I know most girls can't pull off the whole hat look, but my head has a perfect shape, you know, so..."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Tori cut her off before realising what she had said. "Wait - what do you mean you sold the song I gave you?"

"Well, you know my friend Molly?"

"Little feet, big thighs?"

"Mm-Hmm," Trina confirmed. "Her uncle is one of the main dudes at Devolution records. I played the song for him and he, like, freaked over it."

"The song I sang for your birthday?" Tori sought final confirmation.

"Yeah. He gave me 500 bucks for the rights. And get this: He wants me to record it professionally."

"You? You're gonna sing it?" Tori was stunned.

"Of course; he thinks it could be a hit. I turned your terrible present into a new hat and a great opportunity."

"But wait. But, but, but, but," she floundered, "does he know that I was the one singing the song and not you?"

"You know, that did not come up," Trina noted thoughtfully.

"Trina, how can you just do that? You can't..." Tori was stunned and incensed.

"Got to scamper. Hey, are you gonna finish your coffee?"

"No. Jade found this in the..." then she paused as an idea hit her with a slight grin. "You can have it." She handed her sister the cup, watches as she walked off and scowling. "That's right, drink the garbage coffee."

_Thursday, April 30__th__ 2010_.

André and Tori sat on the staircase as students passed them by, heading to and from their lockers; both teens looked decidedly unhappy.

"Hey guys," Freddie was smiling broadly as he and Cat approached them, though his smile dropped a little at their long faces.

"Hi," the ebullient red-head echoed, letting go of his hand so that she could slip an arm around his waist; he matched the gesture.

"What's up?" Cat asked, seeing their unhappy friends.

"Trina," the songsmith snapped.

"What's she done now?" Freddie sighed.

"You know the song we wrote?" The couple nodded. "Well she sold it to a producer and tried to sing it," Tori began. "Only she, y'know, can't sing so they wanted to give it up as a bad idea. Then she finally admitted that _I_ was the one who sang it so André and I went down there…"

"They get _such_ good coffee from the local Jet Brew," the musician added wistfully.

"Yeah," she gave him a funny look; Freddie made a mental note to ask him which one it was so that he could pas the information on to Jade (assuming it was one that she hadn't already discovered, of course). "Anyway, I was singing when suddenly they got a call. One of their guys played it for _Beyoncé_," Freddie and Cat looked at one another in amazement, "and now _she's_ going to record it instead."

"Well that's good isn't it," Cat piped up; the teens on the stairs gave her a quailing look but, secure in her boyfriend's presence, she continued, "I mean if she sings it then it'll be a hit so you'll get some great royalties and why are you looking like you wanna kill _me_ now?" she tailed off at their glares as their moods continued to darken.

"Trina _sold_ the song," Tori repeated.

"That means the Devolution guys own it – so we'll get nothing," André explained sadly.

"There's _nothing_ you can do?" Freddie asked; the pair shook their heads. "We need to get to the computer lab," he told his girl.

"Why?" she asked.

"So I can read up on IP law; there has to be _something_ we can do about this…"

He slipped from her embrace, catching her hand in his en route and led her away from their friends at top speed.

"Iced coffee?" the singer suggested dejectedly.

"Lead the way," her friend agreed.

They rose from the stairs and headed out of the school.

* * *

**AN: Thanks for reading; I hope you liked it. Feel free to add a review and let me know either way. I hope to see you all next week for the next chapter. PD.**


	18. Chapter 18: A Film by Dale Squires

**AN: Hello everyone and welcome, later than anticipated, to this chapter. I had hoped to get it done for last week but life got in the way.**

**Anyway, a shout out to those of you who read and, especially, reviewed chapter 17 and a special one to Agent-M who had the dubious honour of providing this story's 100****th**** review; the first time one of my stories has reached those giddy heights. Like you I didn't like Trina's ingratitude; whether Freddie can do anything about it remains to be seen.**

**Fanfic-Reader-88 – yes we have the Carly-Steven-Tori subplot to enjoy; I'm particularly looking forward to how it all comes to a head eventually, possibly involving some pain. Like you I suspect that Robbie's grandmother would have reacted like that to almost anyone who showed up with him and, as I said above, yes Trina's behaviour was rather unpleasant.**

**OneHorseShay – I'm glad you enjoyed the early stages of Caddie. Cat does have a fondness for cute little dresses so Freddie may well see more of the collection as we progress. Jealous Jade? I suppose the question is what is she jealous of when she's dating Beck? You perhaps hinted at one reason with your one-shot set after CNB; she's doing a bit of a compare and contrast? Of course you have a different theory though. As for your theory of Mammaw's dislike of Freddie (that you expressed via PM) – it's certainly a possible reason, particularly with your suggestion that André's grandmother would have had similar misgivings if he and Jade had dated.**

**Challenge King – thank you, I'm glad that you liked it and were amused by Cat's attire; do any of us buy the whole Little Miss Innocent act? She **_**knows**_** what she's doing.**

**Darck Ben – thanks. I don't 'cast' actors to make guest appearances (I'll leave that to OHS) but you are, of course, more than welcome to cast whoever you like to play the characters while you're reading the story.**

**ArtisticAngel6 – thank you for the praise; I'm glad you love the pairing and hopefully you'll enjoy their interaction going forward.**

**Guest – thank you for the review. Carly's jealousy of Freddie with another girl was long established on the show (except when she went as out of character as he did during those abysmal few episodes that followed iOMG). Does she have feelings for him? The Creddies have always thought so and believe that iGoodbye confirmed it; an alternative theory is that she loved being loved by him and felt threatened that someone could 'steal' that love from her. Freddie DOES want the girls to reconcile; he wanted Carly to come down for Spring Break to see Sam, maybe he will get the chance later on with them. You're right that there could be some… discussions between Cat and Carly when they meet in person, given the history.**

**That's everyone so here's the next chapter.**

* * *

Chapter 18: A Film by Dale Squires.

_Benson Residence, Hollywood Hills, Los Angeles, California_

_Saturday, 8__th__ May 2010_.

"So, how's _Steven_?" Freddie asked his friend teasingly; Cat grinned by his side as they both eyed the brunette expectantly.

"I don't know," Carly began hesitantly; the brown-eyed web hostess was sat at her desk in her room while video-chatting with her friend and his girlfriend. The pale Seattleite looked down at her keyboard for a moment as she battled the feelings that her own romantic life and the sight of Freddie being so happy with another girl threatened to engender within her.

"Aw, never mind Carls," he sympathised.

"Yeah, the right guy is _definitely_ out there," Cat backed him up, giggling as the couple shared a smile.

"We haven't broken up!" Carly almost snapped at the couple; her tone was certainly somewhat shorter than usual. The pale Seattleite felt a little annoyed that they had jumped to that conclusion. "It's just that he's gone away for a month." They turned to her in confusion. "You see, his parents are divorced but made it an amicable split; they home-school him and he spends half of his time up here and half of it… actually half of it in L.A. somewhere." She put on a confused expression as the Los Angeles-based teens shared a surprised look. "Something I said?" she ventured when neither commented.

"No it's just… that story sounds a little familiar," Freddie observed.

"Yeah is it a fairy tale?" Cat asked him excitedly.

"No, sweetie," her boyfriend's own tone was patient, "it's the same thing as Tori's guy," he turned to his old friend, "one of our friends here at school is in the same situation. She's dating a guy who divides his time between his parents too." The tech genius bit his tongue as he pondered on the coincidence of two girls both dating a 'Steven' who divided his time between LA and Seattle. He decided, however, that there was no point saying anything just yet; his friend had had precious little luck in the relationship department as it was without him sowing any seeds of doubt in her mind unnecessarily.

"When did he go?" Cat piped up.

"Last week; always comes and goes on the first of the month," the brunette explained; Freddie thought back on the upswing in Tori's mood over the last week with her guy's return helping her get over the fall-out from the song she performed for Trina's birthweek and his suspicions flared another notch. For now he gently bit his tongue.

"So you're home alone on a Saturday night?" he asked instead, sympathy entering his voice again as he pulled his girl a little closer to him; the redhead grinned wickedly and shuffled onto his lap, causing him to wrap his arms around her to hold her steady. It was a sight that further lowered the web hostess's mood, though she did her best not to show it.

"Yeah," she sighed, "most of my friends are busy; I'm seeing a couple of them tomorrow though – got to plan the next web show after all." Freddie nodded. "How about you two? Not out and about tonight then?" she tried to adopt a teasing tone of her own and just about pulled it off.

"Not tonight; I had a long day at work and we're helping Cat's mom and dad do some decorating at their place over the next few days so we decided on a quiet night in with a couple of movies while we have the house to ourselves with mom doing the night shift." His girl smiled and turned on his lap to steal a quick kiss.

_Vega Residence, Hollywood Hills_

_Sunday, 9__th__ May 2010_.

The young couple were taking a break from helping her parents out; the Valentines had told them to take a couple of hours off from decorating and they had decided to go and visit their newest friend; for Freddie it was because he wanted to sound her out on Steven and look for some evidence for or against his burgeoning suspicions. He was pleased, therefore, to see that the boy in question was there when they arrived, having returned from Seattle the previous week.

"Hey Tori," Cat greeted her exuberantly as she opened the door.

"Cat, Freddie, hi," she smiled. "Come in, come in," she urged them.

"Thanks," the Seattle-born told her as they passed her and entered the house.

"Guys, this is Steven," she smiled and gestured towards the dark-haired boy; he stood up from the couch and offered his hand to them and the three exchanged greetings. "Freddie's actually _from_ Seattle originally," the brunette elaborated for her man; he raised his eyebrows a fraction.

"Oh really, whereabouts?"

"Well I grew up there," he clarified. "We used to live on the west side of downtown," the tech wizard explained, "in an apartment block called Bushwell Plaza, near Occidental Park." The boy could have sworn he saw the faintest flicker cross the other teen's face as he said this but it was gone as soon as it appeared.

"I don't know it," he said simply.

"Freddie used to be part of a web show up there," Cat added proudly; her boyfriend was sure that the other boy's discomfort flared a notch momentarily. "iCarly," she clarified.

"Really, you worked on iCarly? Tori's shown me a couple of them," he motioned towards the half-Latina. "Carly's cute but not my type; she's not you" he finished with a charming smile in the girl's direction.

Tori and Cat grinned happily at his words; Freddie looked somewhere between suspicious and nauseated.

_Black Box Theatre, Hollywood Arts High School_

_Monday, 10__th__ May 2010_.

"Hey Jade, have you got a second?" "Freddie asked his friend as he spotted her just inside the theatre; she was stood talking to Beck but waved her boyfriend off to go and save them a couple of seats, given the look on the newcomer's face. The long-haired Canadian looked from one to the other in suspicious confusion before heeding the instruction and heading for the seating area. Freddie spotted his girlfriend's vivid red hair and waved at her as he approached the darker-haired teen; she smiled and waved back, patting the seat next to her to show that she had co-opted it for him.

"So what's up?" The gothic girl was, as ever, direct and to the point.

"You know Tori's kinda got this new guy?"

"Yeah, what about him?"

"I have my concerns," he admitted and set out what he knew and what he suspected from talking to the couple and also to Carly.

"Have you told either of them this?"

"No, I really don't want to rock the boat for anyone, especially Carls," and he gave a brief run-down of the petite girl's woes in that department; Jade nodded sympathetically.

"So what _do_ you want to do?"

"Keep my eye on him and wait until I have some actual proof. Then," he smiled, "maybe invite my friend down for a visit."

Jade's eyes lit up and the familiar mischievous smirk set on her face. "That could be a fun meeting."

"I'm thinking Sam might like to be there too," the boy speculated. "But until then, I'll just see how it all goes."

"You think Sam will want to get revenge on Carly's behalf?" Jade wondered.

"I think she'll like to give _someone_ a beating," Freddie smirked before adding a bitter and disgusted edge to his voice as he continued, "she certainly enjoyed handing one to the blonde bitch didn't she? Oh, I think Beck's getting impatient," he observed as he spotted the actor throwing another glance at them; they made their way to their seats and Freddie gave his girl a good morning kiss as he sat down next to her. Jade gave a guarded look in his direction; the boy's description of his ex-girlfriend sat ill with her, despite Lindsey's sins. The gothic girl found herself wondering, once again, just how ok her friend really was.

Class was due to start and the majority of the students were stood talking to one another as they waited for their teacher, Chris, to arrive. Tori had taken a seat in the middle of the auditorium; she lounged a little on it with her right foot resting on the chair in front as she thought of the hypothetical dilemma she wanted to set out for her friends. The brunette was sat in between André and a slightly odd-looking boy that she didn't know, though she believed his name to be Damian. Her songsmith friend was perched on his chair, sitting on top of the back rest with his feet on the cushioned part. In front of him sat Jade, with Beck on her left; the couple were sitting _very_ comfortably together and facing the front where they could see Freddie and Cat in the front row. The Seattle-born teen had his arm around his girlfriend and both were dressed down in their oldest tops and worn jeans (Cat's had holes in both knees) as they were going to be helping her parents re-decorate her brother's room again after school today (Freddie would help for a couple of hours before work and then return afterwards).

"Okay," the half-Latina asked them all, "if you had to give up the internet or one of your feet?"

"Foot," Cat answered without hesitation. André and Jade agreed, giving the same answer immediately after.

"Take a foot," Beck supported them; none of the teens seemed to even have to think about it.

"Really? You'd all give up a foot to keep the internet?" Tori was surprised.

"Totally," Beck answered.

"Wouldn't you?" Cat asked in surprise.

"You love the Internet," André pointed out.

"I know, but my foot is a part of my body and the internet is... yeah, bye foot. No need to ask you huh Freddie?" she teased, seeing their friend remain silent throughout. Cat grinned and snuggled closer against his side.

"I'd lose the internet," he replied quietly and all eyes of the group, and some of the other kids who had overheard the exchange, turned to him. "My mom's a nurse, remember?" he reminded them. "When I was younger I was with her for one of her shifts because she decided that she didn't trust the day care company she'd been using; we'd just recently moved to Seattle and she didn't trust the Shays to look after me either. There had been a bad accident on the I-5 that day," and they saw his skin visibly whiten as he recalled that day. "Even though I obviously wasn't in theatre with them when they were operating I was in the hospital. You don't want to know what I saw that day," he finished with a shiver. The redhead in his arms gave him a small supportive smile; he looked to her and returned it as best he could. She strained her neck a little so that she could give him a quick kiss, re-evaluating her own choice as she did; she wasn't the only one to do so.

"All right, future superstars, take your seats," Chris had entered the theatre, "because at this point in your lives, I am in charge of you. Come on, hurry up. Let's not waste time. We've got some excitement today."

"Yay, I love excitement," Cat was happy to have some distraction from Freddie's tale.

"Who doesn't love excitement?" Tori asked her.

"Damian," the red velvet-haired girl pointed to the boy next to the half-Latina.

"She's right... Tori," he told her. Thinking that he seemed rather creepy she rose far enough to be able to pick up her chair and bunny-hopped a couple of inches towards André and away from him.

"Ok, okay. Today, instead of discussing the differences..." Chris began before he was interrupted by a new, late arrival.

"Hi. Sorry I'm late, sweaty and out of breath," Robbie called as he dashed into the theatre; his ever-present puppet was on his hand much to Freddie's disdain.

"Somebody get me some coffee," Rex demanded.

"Robbie, just sit down," the teacher told him. The ventriloquist headed towards the seat directly in front of Tori.

"Why are you late?" the lighter brunette asked him.

"'Cause my Uncle Marty gave me this old car, which I was really psyched about, except it keeps breaking down," he began as he sat. "And on my way here, the motor died in the middle of a really bad neighbourhood. Now, don't get me wrong; I like all people, but look, a mean guy took my left shoe and Rex's," he gestured their shoe-less feet to the class.

"Put my foot down," his puppet ordered.

"Okay. Let's all shut up and let teacher talk," Chris interrupted the odd couple's scene. "Now, I bet you are all familiar with the short film called 'Butterface'."

"Yeah, of course. Oh my God, I've watched that movie on-line like a billion times," Tori replied.

"Yeah, who hasn't?" Jade was a little impatient.

"Well, I'm glad you're all aware of the film because I'd like you to meet the director of "Butterface..." Chris began.

"No way!" Freddie was excited by the prospect of a _real_ director; he was hoping to get some new ideas for effects and other 'magic' he could bring to his work.

"Don't tease me," his dark brunette friend threatened, barely daring to believe what seemed to be on offer.

"... A former student of mine, Dale Squires."

The director emerged from the wings of the stage, jumping and pointing his fingers at them as if they were guns.

"Yeah, let him hear it," Chris urged as the kids applauded his entrance.

"What's up, guys?" he asked them confidently as he took their applause.

"Okay, Dale, the podium is all yours."

"Nice. I've always wanted a Plexiglas podium." The assembled students laughed politely; though Freddie rolled eyes a bit while Cat ignored proceedings altogether and pulled out her phone to begin texting. "Uh, what happened to your shoe?" the director asked, noticing Robbie.

"Oh, it was taken by street toughs," the puppeteer explained.

Tori raised her hand and called out a question, "Hey, is it true that you're going to be directing Johnny Depp's new movie?"

"Uh, looks that way, yeah," Dale confirmed.

"It's so... that even excites me," Damian declared. As one the entire class imitated Tori's move to edge away from him.

The class was further disrupted as the rear door was opened; Trina and Sinjin lead huge mass of students clamouring to get inside the room to see the guest speaker.

"Dale... there he is. Oh my God, there he is!" Trina blew a kiss at him.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. What is going on here?" Chris demanded as he approached them.

"Cat sent out a mass text message that Dale Squires is here," the elder Vega explained.

"I love mass texting!" the cupcake lover raised her phone in triumph; Freddie pinched top of his nose and closed his eyes, shaking his head a little.

"Come on, come on, come on, come on. Hey, hey, guys, you can't... " the teacher attempted to restore order.

"Hi, Dale. I hear you're directing the new Johnny Depp movie and guess what? I'd be perfect. Here's my head shot," Trina brandished a photograph. Tori began to look deeply disturbed at her sister's latest antics.

"All right!" Chris had had enough. "Hey, hey, hey, hey. If you are not in this class, then leave," he instructed them.

Trina turned to face the other kids and began to usher them out of the door. "Yeah. Yeah, you heard the man. Go on. Get out. Schoochie, schoochie." She then turned and smiled at the class's teacher. "Hey," she greeted him sweetly.

"You too, Trina," he told her.

"But I'd look so good next to Johnny Depp in a movie," she protested. "Please Dale?"

"Tori, can you make your sister leave?" Chris asked the younger sibling.

"Trina, stop embarrassing me or I'm going to embarrass you," the singer cautioned.

"Don't threaten me."

"When Trina was six," she began, "our family went to the mall just before Christmas."

"Don't say it," Trina insisted urgently.

"And she peed... "

"Tori," Trina was scandalised.

"… on Santa Claus." The kids in the theatre immediately began to laugh at the older Vega sister; Trina fled in embarrassment.

"Thank you, Tori," Chris told her. "Dale?" he prompted.

"All right. What were we talking about?"

He was interrupted again, however, as the older of the sisters stuck her head through door again. "In all fairness, I did have a bladder infection," she pointed out.

"Go," Tori demanded.

A talk followed, during which the class, Freddie in particular, made copious notes based on his methods and ideas for directing a production before a short question-and-answer session for the last few minutes before the bell.

"So that's why I went with a handheld camera," Dale explained. "I wanted to give it that panicky, jittery feel, you know?" Jade and a few of the others nodded their agreement.

"I love that panicky, jittery feeling," Cat observed.

Freddie spoke up, "I think it worked well and without having to use any of the special effects that you might otherwise have needed to add." Squires gave a slightly curious look at a teen who seemed so knowledgeable about the finer workings of the effects.

"And it was totally brilliant how you didn't even see his wife in that scene," Tori's point earned a small chuckle from the speaker.

"Yeah," André agreed, "'cause it made you think, like, 'where is she?'"

"Well, to be honest," he admitted, "she wasn't in the scene because the actress who played the wife got food poisoning and was puking in the bathroom. But hey, I'll take brilliant."

"One time, I ate a hamburger and then, like, an hour later, I started sneezing, but I don't think it had anything to do with the hamburger," Cat told him. Tori pulled a face as she looked at her friend. Jade, despite being used to her best friend's random outbursts, made a suggestion.

"Maybe your red hair dye seeps through your scalp and into your brain."

The shorter girl gasped, "Can that happen?" She clutched at her head in panic while Jade palmed her face. Freddie put his arm consolingly around his girlfriend to settle her while giving Jade a slightly reproachful look; she just grinned confidently at him and, in spite of himself, he smiled back softly and shook his head.

"So, Dale, why don't you tell my class why you're here?" Chris suggested; time would soon be up so they needed to get to the point.

Damian nodded, "Yeah."

"Well," Dale started, "Chris asked me if I'd help you guys make a short film, kind of as a class project."

The assembled students mumbled, "A what?" "No way." "Cool."

"And you'll direct it?" Tori asked the celebrity; he gave a cocky shrug.

"Is that cool with you?"

"That's very cool with me, Dale Squires," the half-Latina enthused.

"So what kind of movie are we going to make?" Freddie asked.

"I don't know," Squires replied, "I was thinking something maybe intense, scary."

"Like Jade?" Rex suggested; the girl in question leaned over and hit him hard with her folder. "Oh," the puppet muttered before slumping against Robbie's arm.

"You knocked him unconscious!" his handler lamented; the gothic girl just smiled and settled back in her seat next to Beck.

"Hey, Beck, maybe we could rework that one-act play you wrote earlier in the semester?" Chris suggested.

"Yeah, I'd be into that," the actor nodded.

"Oh. And I talked to a guy in the biz, he's going to let us use professional film cameras, lights, whatever we need," Dale added.

Freddie thought of one more issue. "Where are we going to film?"

"Oh, we can shoot it at my house," Tori suggested.

"Alright; I think we're making a movie," the director enthused; the kids clapped the prospect.

"Let's do it," Tori finished before wrinkling her nose as her older sister suddenly snuck back into the theatre and appeared by the podium.

"I created this photo of me and Johnny Depp together, so you could see what we might look like as a..." she began.

"On Santa Claus," Tori reminded her.

"Bladder infection," she shot back.

"Out," Chris demanded.

"Hey," she complained, pouting but trudging for the exit; the others wouldn't be far behind as the bell ended the lesson shortly afterwards.

_Asphalt Café._

"Hey, Beck?" Robbie caught up with the Canadian teen as he and Jade waited by the Grub Truck for Festus to provide their lunch.

"Yeah, what's up?" he asked.

"I was just wondering… you know your way around cars, don't you?"

"I've fixed mine in the past," he conceded.

"Could you… maybe help me with mine? I really don't want to break down in rough neighbourhoods again."

"Sure," the laid-back actor replied, earning a disappointed look from his girlfriend. "We'll have to work it around the movie we're doing but if you can get it here then we can do a little on a lunchtime or right after school," he suggested.

"That would be great, thanks."

The trio joined Cat, Freddie, Tori and André at their usual table; the younger Vega kept glancing surreptitiously over at her sister, sat at a nearby table, but Trina was seemingly content to keep a low profile at the moment after the events of the morning class.

"So are you guys still decorating?" Jade asked the other couple.

"Yeah," Cat confirmed, "we have to finish my brother's room tonight."

"I thought you worked on a Monday," Tori pointed out to the tech producer.

"I do," he confirmed, "I'll be there for a couple of hours before work then go back and help them finish off after." He gave a quick chuckle and continued, "After yesterday it'll be nice to have a break at work; there was a lot more to do than I thought."

"That's why they asked you to help us," his girlfriend pointed out with her customary giggle.

_Valentine Residence_

The two teenagers had helped Cat's parents to get a lot of work done on the room before Freddie left for work; the Valentines had then turned their attention to the guest bedroom in his absence and had made a good start on that. Cat bounced downstairs when her boy knocked on the front door and welcomed him back inside; he had changed back into his older clothes after finishing his shift.

"Why don't you two finish up painting your brother's room and we'll keep going on this one," Mrs Valentine suggested to her daughter. "I know you have this film to work on later in the week so if you can at least help us to get _one_ of the rooms finished it would be great."

"Sure," the Seattle-born nodded, "let's go," he seized his girlfriend's hand and they headed up to the room where he took stock of the situation.

"Ok, sheets are on the floor, everything's away from the wall. Should be an easy enough job, even if it'll take a while to get it done. It is…" he checked the time on his phone, "8:30 so we have a couple of hours before mom will want me home. Let's go."

The two opened a couple of tins of paint and set off from opposite corners of the room.

It was tedious work, though Freddie found it rather therapeutic. Cat, however, was getting bored with simply working up and down the walls adding red paint to them, though she amused herself for a while by comparing the colour to that of her hair, which elicited a soft giggle every time she did. Freddie smiled at the sound and stole an occasional glance at the girl in her well-worn but figure-hugging clothes when he went to recharge his brush.

Finally, though, Cat was out of stimuli. Thankfully they were almost done by this point and she crept over to where her boyfriend was focussing on the job at hand and wiped her brush lightly down his cheek, leaving a thin, red stripe of paint on it. Freddie snapped back to the here and now at the sensation, rubbing his cheek gently and looking from the paint on his finger to the grinning redhead stood beside him.

"I can't believe you did that!" he complained; she simply grinned and attempted to give the same treatment to his other cheek. He managed to dodge her lunge and flicked his own brush in her direction; a few drops of paint flew from it, landing on her face and neck, making it appear that she had broken out in spots. She squealed at the feeling of the paint on her skin and redoubled her efforts to paint her boyfriend.

"Cat?" her father asked from the doorway a few moments later; he eyed the teens, both now splattered with flecks of paint. "What on earth are you doing?"

"We're just about done and I got bored just painting the wall," she complained.

"So you decided to paint Freddie instead?" he asked, slightly incredulous.

"Uh huh," she confirmed with a slightly embarrassed smile.

"Just… go and get cleaned up before bed," Mr Valentine shook his head and waved her off. "And Freddie? Thanks for your help but I think your mom is expecting you back soon."

"Oh!" he commented, seeing the time was after 10:30. "Thanks, yes, I'll uh… clean up and then go." He gave his girl a goodnight kiss, went to the sink in the guest bathroom in order to wash the worst of the paint from his face and headed for home, hoping to avoid his mother's disapproving gaze before he made it to the shower to get properly clean.

_Vega Residence_

_Wednesday, 12__th__ May 2010_.

_The Slap Mobile_

_Tori Vega:_ _Dale Squires is coming to MY HOUSE! Ahhh! André wants onion dip._

_Feeling: Busy._

Tori's home was a hive of activity with various students wandering around the living area. Freddie stood by the piano talking with the lighting crew and discussing the best ways to make use of conditions in the house. Cat, dressed for her role as Monica in a grey top with a black, flowery-patterned dress over it, stood nearby her boyfriend. Her make-up kit (as she was doubling as make-up artist) stood open on the kitchen counter; several of the kids came over to have theirs touched up while Freddie and the others talked.

The hostess, meanwhile, was directing the crew to help them set up the room for filming. "Move this, just so this area's clear," she gestured to the coffee table and a couple of the crew came over to move the offending item out of the way of the shot.

"Okay, we got it," a stagehand confirmed and they lifted and moved it.

Mrs Vega arrived at the back door with a couple of bags of groceries; she looked rather concerned at the number of people who had invaded her home.

"Okay, um... Tori? Tori?" She beckoned her youngest daughter over.

"Hey, mom," the girl greeted her.

"What is all this?" She gestured to the pandemonium.

"You said I could shoot a short film here for school," Tori pointed out.

"Yeah. I thought that meant you, a couple of friends, oh hey Freddie," she emphasised his name and smiled at the boy as he glanced in their direction, "a camcorder, maybe a microphone."

"Mom, _Dale Squires_ is helping us. This is a big deal," then she dropped her voice and muttered from the corner of her mouths, "and Freddie is happily dating Cat again."

André, with a mouth full of chips, joined the Vegas. "Hey, did you buy onion dip?" he enquired.

"No," Mrs Vega replied in mild confusion.

"Why not?" he asked; she responded by dropping the bags and glaring at him. "Okay," he raised his hands in surrender.

"Where's Trina?" the matriarch asked.

"Tori locked her in the bathroom," Cat supplied.

"Cat, you weren't supposed to tell her that," Tori snapped; Cat looked worried.

"I'm okay with it," she was reassured. Cat smiled, turned and walked back over to Freddie, slipping an arm around him and leaning in for a quick kiss. "I'm just going to go take a hot bath. Please don't ruin the house," Tori's mother urged her daughter.

"We're not going to ruin the house…" the brunette began before being interrupted by the sound of breaking glass.

"My bad," a crew member called out.

"Oh. Uh..." Tori looked uncomfortably at her mother.

"Just try to keep things in one piece," was her parting shot.

"Yeah, we'll... okay," she called to the retreating parent. She spotted Jade nearby and asked, "Hey, what time is it?"

"I'm not your clock," the mean girl replied before sighing. "It's almost 9:00."

"I need to be home in bed by 10:30. Can we please get started?" Robbie urged.

"Without a director? And my mom will complain as well if I`m late back on a school night; I can't believe I missed a shift at work, got _all_ the lighting and stuff sorted out and then the guy never showed," Freddie added with a snort of disgust.

"Yeah, where is Dale?" André wondered aloud.

"I don't know; He was supposed to be here at 7:00," Tori noted.

"One time, when I was seven, I was at the beach and I made a sand castle, and I called it Cat's castle." The redhead smiled at the gathered students as they all stared at her. "True story."

Freddie grinned at his girl. "You made one called Cat`s castle last summer as well. And I'm sure you'll do the same THIS summer when we go there."

The cupcake lover giggled again. "That's so true!" she cried happily.

Squires interrupted the conversation by finally arriving. "Hey, hey. Who's ready to make a movie?"

The kids cheered and whooped his appearance.

"I am," André confirmed.

"So Tori. You're going to be my little assistant on this project?" the director prompted.

"Yeah, sure. In fact, I mean, I know you're the director and everything, but I had a cool idea about how we could set up the first shot," she told him as he crossed the room to pick up a soda.

"Yeah, talk to me," he encouraged.

"Okay. So I was thinking we open on a close-up of..." she began to set out her proposal.

"Oh, oh," Squires' phone interrupted them. "Hey, I've got to take this. Yeah, hey, what's up? She did?"

"But it's almost nine and we have school tomorrow..." the brunette protested.

"You know, just go ahead and start shooting without me," she was told.

"Yeah, but I don't know how to..." she argued before he interrupted.

"Just do your close-up thing, yeah. The one you were telling me about." To the person on the other end of the phone he said, "So she's hot?" as he walked out onto the Vegas' patio.

Freddie walked over to the despondent-looking girl. "Did you forget I spent MONTHS doing this for iCarly?" he reminded her. "We don't need him."

"Yeah," she smiled and her eyes lit up. "Yeah, we CAN do this." The singer raised her voice and called out. "Okay. Let's start the first shot. Beck?"

"Yeah."

"Let me have you on the couch," she directed.

"Girl..." Jade began warningly.

"For the shot," the brunette clarified loudly. Jade raised one eyebrow as she turned away; Freddie flashed his go-to-girl a quick smile and she returned it wickedly.

"My bad," a crewman called as the sound of breaking glass was heard again.

"You know, just yelling 'my bad' doesn't make it okay," Tori lamented as she set up the first scene for filming.

* * *

"You did a great job," Freddie complimented as he and Cat prepared to leave; it was 10:30 and he had just texted Marissa to let her know that he would drop off the red-haired girl as he headed home and that he was just about to leave Tori's.

"Thanks, I shouldn't have _had_ to though," the half-Latina grumbled. "I can't believe Dale showed up late and then never did anything. At least I had _you_ to help me; your iCarly experience really helped."

He shrugged modestly. "I was happy to help."

_Hollywood Arts High School_

_Thursday, 13__th__ May 2010_.

Freddie sat in his maths class; as usual Cat was alongside him and, as usual, the girl was struggling with the subject. The class were busy with their work and nobody was paying attention to the tech genius trying to patiently and quietly talk his girlfriend through the basics of the algebra they were working on.

"I don't get it," she complained in defeat.

"It's really not complicated," he began, "just pretend that these letters are really numbers, so instead of three a squared plus four b it's three times two squared plus four times three."

"So that's…" she tapped on her fingers for a few seconds, "that's only twenty-four and it's got to be fifty-four."

"Right," he smiled, "so that can't be it. So try some different numbers."

The girl frowned at the page for a moment. "Oh I get it now," she whispered in delight; she gave him a _very_ quick peck on the cheek (mindful of their recent detentions for PDAs in class) and picked up her pen to scribble down the answer. Their teacher did glance towards them and gave a small shake of his head in warning but thought no more of it seeing the pair bent over their work and focussing on the task in hand.

Class ended uneventfully and the two left hand-in-hand.

"Thanks, Freddie, I really think I'm starting to get it now," she smiled as they reached the mezzanine at the middle of the main staircase; the redhead gave her boy a much deeper kiss than she had been able to in class. He gathered her into his arms, hers found their way around his neck and they threatened to begin to make out in the corridor, causing an obstruction for their fellow students who had to walk around them.

A blonde girl was crossing the locker area and glanced up the stairs; she froze at the sight of the two in lip-lock, instantly recognising both Cat from her hair and, of course, Freddie. Lindsey had heard the rumours that the pair were back together but seeing and confirming it with her own two green eyes was a painful experience for the junior. She tore herself away from the scene, hastily wiped her eyes on her sleeve and hurried after her friends.

_Vega Residence_

_The Slap Mobile_

_Tori Vega: I feel like a real DIRECTOR (Dale is busy again). _

_Feeling: In Charge_

The brunette was watching on as Jade hunched over Cat on her living room floor; Freddie, meanwhile, was filming the scene with his old iCarly camera. Between them the kids had managed to get nearly everything filmed; there were only a couple more scenes to go.

"Monica. Monica. Do not die on me. Wake up. I mean it. Wake up. Come on," Jade slapped the shorter teen's cheek, causing her to break character; she gasped, opened her eyes and raised her hand to her cheek.

"Owww," she complained to the camera - and to Freddie.

"Cut," Tori called.

"What?" the darker haired girl demanded.

"Jade!" Freddie called in a voice laced with disappointment.

"You're not supposed to hit her," the stand-in director pointed out.

"I felt that's what my character would do," she countered.

"My face hurts," Cat told her. Coupled with the disapproval in Freddie's voice, the first vestiges of guilt and shame crossed Jade's face.

The cameraman set his trusty machine down on the couch, took the girl's arm and led her to one side.

"I know you want the realism, but actually hitting her? Why? You can't be bothered by her stage-kissing Beck. Unless," he grinned, "you think Beck should have fought me after we were in that play together last semester."

A brief frown crossed Jade's face; she took a breath but Freddie continued, "She's your best friend, she's _my girlfriend_; _you can't hit my girlfriend,_" he steeled his voice a little as he pointed this out before becoming a little more jovial again, "just do a little stage fighting? We both know Cat can pull it off, I can add the sound effects. It'll work."

"You're right," she conceded. "I'm sorry Cat," she called to the redhead; the girl nodded as she rubbed her cheek. She and Freddie were, of course, very close and had bonded so much over the last year but he had drawn a clear line in the sand and, she had to concede, he was right. "At least we won't need any make-up for your cheek for the scene," she grinned. Freddie shook his head and gave her a rueful smile.

"Ok, can we try it again without the physical assault?" Tori demanded.

"You're not the director but I guess so."

"You've been listening to Freddie; he's not the director either," the other girl snapped hotly.

"He knows what he's talking about," Jade smirked confidently.

"And our director's over there playing with his laptop," Freddie pointed out.

"Wait here," Tori told them with a sigh and strode purposefully over to where Squires was talking on his cell phone again.

"Come on. Do you see this? Do you see it?"

"Dale, please hang up," she urged him.

"Hey, I've got to jump," he rang off and turned to Tori. "Sorry, but you have to take a look at my website. Can you believe how many comments? People love me."

"I know; _we_ love you. Now could you _please_ help us shoot this last scene so we can love you even more?"

"What, for the movie?" He sounded surprised.

"Yes."

"Alright, let's take a look… Alright, for this scene I think we should... what scene are we shooting?"

"Scene 29, where Olivia finds Monica dead," Freddie explained.

"Oh, right. Okay. I want you two up on the couch for that," he motioned to Jade and Cat.

"You can't have them on the couch," André pointed out.

"Why can't I?"

"Because at the end of scene 28, Monica collapses on the floor," Freddie told him.

"Well, we don't have to shoot it that way," the director reasoned.

"We already shot it, Squires," the tech producer shot back.

"Whoa, who are _you_ to have an attitude?" Squires fired at him.

"Someone who actually puts the time and effort into making sure a scene works and films the way it's meant to," the brown-haired teen replied without missing a beat; Squires took a breath and turned to Tori, asking in a calmer voice,

"Ok, when did we film it?"

"Last night, while you were in the jacuzzi," she jibed.

"Just show him the scene," Jade groaned, tired of the argument and wanting to get on with the filming.

"You already cut it together?" Dale was surprised.

"Yeah. Like I said _I_ actually know what I'm doing. Here," Freddie showed him the footage on his lap top.

_Beck and Cat were in the living area; the girl approached him._

"_No, Monica, don't," he pleaded as she closed the gap. Cat kissed him and then dropped to floor._

"Wow. The movie looks really good," Squires approved.

"Thanks, that means so much," the sarcasm in Freddie's tone was unmissable. Tori, however, wanted to avoid further argument.

"So see? Monica has to be on the floor," she explained.

"Yeah. Yeah. Okay," he conceded. "Let's shoot one. Ready? Roll."

"Can you please tell her not to slap me?" Cat begged him.

"She should do whatever feels right," he returned. The redhead gave Jade a worried look; she just smiled back at her.

"Jade..." Freddie reminded her cautiously.

"Alright," she relented. "Lie down." Cat tucked her hair in front of her left shoulder and lay down on floor.

"Action," Squires called.

"Monica. Monica," Jade began. "Do not die on me. Wake up. I mean it. Wake up. Come on." She swung but missed a few times during and after saying this; Cat jerked her head from side to side in response.

_Sikowitz's Classroom, Hollywood Arts High School_

_Friday, 14__th__ May 2010_.

The kids were finding it difficult to concentrate; each of them was counting down the hours to the premiere of their movie. Tori, especially, was proud of what they had achieved and delivered; the girl had worked into the night to get it finished and ready to be aired, again with next to no help from the official director. He had, however, taken the film in order to have it finally and professionally edited and produced with better equipment than Freddie could supply (not for the want of trying from the former iCarly producer). Their eccentric acting teacher had finally given up on trying to teach them anything and simply encouraged them to discuss the movie in detail and to re-enact a few of the scenes. They had done this eagerly and Sikowitz had suggested a couple of improvements that they could make to the scenes (_A little late for that_, Jade had noted dryly).

"All in all, though, I was very impressed," the teacher commended them, "If your performances were like the ones you put on in here today, along with a bit of…" he hopped a little dance on stage, "movie magic, then you should have something pretty special."

"I hope so," Tori noted, "we all worked hard enough on it."

_Black Box Theatre _

Finally the end of the day came around; the theatre was full to capacity and a screen had been erected at the front on the stage; the kids' movie was being projected onto it, much to the audience's enjoyment.

Currently Jade was on the screen; her character urging Cat's, "Monica." She 'slapped' the redhead; in the theatre Freddie and Cat traded smiles at the effect. His arm was around her and she snuggled against his side, though her free hand rubbed her cheek absentmindedly as they watched. "You cannot die." She slapped her a further two times. "You're going to ruin everything! Monica."

Freddie, in the theatre, whispered to his girl, "It looks fantastic."

"I know," Tori, sat on his other side, had overheard. "We did great," she added in a low voice of her own.

On screen, the scene had changed. Beck was sat in a small room, decorated sparsely like a police station interview room. Two adults, dressed as cops, were with him. "I don't know what happened," he insisted vehemently.

"You're a killer," one of the cops told him simply.

"I'm not. I loved her," his tone was forceful.

"You're a killer!" the cop repeated.

"I loved her!" he shot back louder.

The next scene returned to the Vegas' living room; Jade brandished a bloody knife. The girl wiped it clean – in the theatre Cat gasped at seeing her friend looking so comfortable wielding a murder weapon - before slipping it into a drawer on top of photograph of the child-like girl. The audience applauded enthusiastically as the scene faded to black.

"Yay! They love it," Cat hugged her man; he eagerly matched her move.

"Yeah, they do," Tori grinned.

"Ooh, shhh. Here come our credits," Freddie smiled.

The 'credits' came on screen:

"A Film by Dale Squires.

Written, produced and directed by Dale Squires."

The kids' applause waned at sight and they started to talk furiously among themselves.

"You said you put all our names at the end," Freddie addressed Tori.

"I did," the brunette protested. "Dale must have taken them off."

The 'man of the hour' dashed to front of the theatre, eagerly lapping up the audience's standing ovation. "Thank you," he told them.

"He's taking all the credit?" Jade snarled angrily; even her usually laid-back boyfriend looked upset, particularly as it was _his_ play that had been adapted and now was supposedly "written by" Dale.

"Thank you so much. Oh sit," Squires urged the still-applauding patrons.

"He's taking all the credit," Freddie confirmed.

"I can't believe this," Tori uttered weakly.

"Yes! Oh, yeah! Whoo!" the 'director' was milking every last moment.

* * *

Squires was still shaking hands as people leave theatre; he was replying to their praise with phrases like, "Thank you." "Thank you so much." "It was a labour of love, really."

The real stars, meanwhile, were in a small group nearby, stewing angrily.

"Shouldn't we say something to him?" Tori suggested.

"Yes," the others agreed and Robbie and Cat began pushing Tori towards him.

"No," she yelped, not liking this idea too much.

"Fine, I'll do it," Freddie sighed; he then smiled. "I can always threaten to set Sam on him I guess."

"Yes. Go, go, go, go, go," Tori urged him with relief in her voice.

"Thank you. Thank you," Squires shook hands with one more person.

"Great film, Dale," the spectator told him.

"Hey Dale," Freddie fired testily.

"Hey, uh... Freddie? Can you get me a bottle of water?"

"No!" the annoyed teen snapped. "You took all the credit for the movie we made."

"So I can't get a drink?" the celebrity grinned.

"Why did you take our names off the movie?" the tech producer demanded of him.

"I directed it," Squires pointed out.

"Really? You didn't even show up most of the time. And when you did, you just talked on the phone and sat on your butt while Tori did all the work."

"Oh come on. You think Steven Spielberg really directed Jaws?" Dale asked.

"Yes!" Freddie returned.

"Look, I really have to go."

"Wait," the teen stopped him.

"What?"

"You _know_ Tori directed that movie. Beck wrote it, André did all the music and I filmed it and edited it. What did you actually do?" he pressed.

"I took the credit," Squires laughed.

"Well, you can give it back - right now," Freddie took another step towards him.

"Man, you really don't get Hollywood, do you? Oh, by the way, the after-party's been cancelled, so tell your friends no after-party."

At this point, as Squires was escaping, one of the few remaining audience members came up to him. "Hey. Great movie, Dale. See you at the after-party?"

"I'm there!" he called as he fled the theatre; Freddie and the others looked on in fury.

_Valentine Residence_

_Sunday, 16__th__ May 2010_.

Cat hopped out of the passenger side of Freddie's Corolla; the little red-head scampered to the trunk as her boy opened it and picked up a couple of the lighter bags stowed there. Freddie himself gathered up the rest and awkwardly closed it with his elbow before following the girl inside her home.

The couple had decided to cheer themselves up with an afternoon at the mall; Freddie had had work the previous day to distract him and the two had been to play 'baby-golf' (as Cat called it) again afterwards but they were still angry and upset that their hard work on the movie had gone completely unrecognised. Cat immersed herself in 'retail therapy' and was now laden with bags from the mall's various toy stores (in the guise, of course, of helping the redecoration of some of the rooms in the house).

"I don't know how you talked me into carrying all these inside," Freddie grunted as he deposited her purchases inside the house; she gave him a coy smile and pulled him into a kiss.

"See?" she opened her left hand palm-up and gestured towards him with it. "That's how I do it, not by talking," she elaborated with a deceptively innocent smile.

"Hi kids," Cat's mother joined them in the living area. "Oh, someone's been busy," she teased at the sight of the bags.

"Yeah, I think she emptied half of the shops," Freddie joked, smiling at his girl; she pouted briefly before nudging his side gently with her elbow. He chuckled and pulled her into a cuddle; Mrs Valentine smiled at the sight of her daughter's happiness, particularly as she was dating such a nice boy as Freddie. She helped them to take the bags up to the room and watched, along with the ex-Seattleite, as Cat dashed between the rooms, setting things out to exactly where she felt they should be. To nobody's great surprise the majority of the purchases found their way into _her_ room instead of either of the others; Freddie just chuckled and shook his head.

"You make her happy," Mrs Valentine muttered to him as she made to head back downstairs, "keep doing that," she patted his arm and left with a small smile.

"I'll… try," he replied uncertainly as she retreated. He smiled himself as Cat pulled him into her room. "You still have that?" he asked in a voice that showed how touched he was as he spotted, pride of place on her bed, the soft toy he had bought her two summers ago, just after they had first met.

"Of course," she answered, picking it up, cradling it in her arms and waving it towards him, "I used to hold him whenever I was sad and thought back on the day you got him for me. It reminded me of the good times while we weren't together."

The boy's face fell as he thought back on his own life when the two had been apart and everything that had happened to him during his relationship with Lindsey; he was distracted, however, from his musings as Cat pulled him into a kiss. He suddenly found himself sat on her bed, their arms around one another and exchanging gentle and tender kisses. Freddie's heart rate began to quicken as he processed the surroundings; he tried to control it and compose himself by allowing his girlfriend to set and control the pace and depth of their exchange, thankful that they stayed relatively innocent.

_Hollywood Arts High School_

_Monday, 17__th__ May 2010_.

"Hey Jade," Freddie called as he got out of his car having just arrived at school. Jade, and her customary cup of coffee, were crossing the car park.

"Hi," the annoyed girl's tone was unusually sharp, considering who she was talking to.

"I see none of your comments on _Splashface_ survived," he noted sympathetically.

"I know, and I was _really_ proud of some of them," she smiled in spite of the situation; Freddie laughed as he thought back on some of what his friend had tried to tell Squires, and the world, about the short film.

_The Slap Mobile_

_Tori Vega: I want to shove my thumb into Dale Squires' eyeball._

_Feeling: Wazzed Off._

The brunette was sitting by locker with her folder on her lap; she was getting a little work done before class. Freddie and Jade spotted her and walked over; Jade sighed and tutted but followed the boy.

"Tori," he called.

"Vega," Jade added.

"What?" she asked them, looking up distractedly.

"Check out the homepage on Splash Face," Freddie pulled out his lap top.

"I've already seen the 'Lobster on a Bicycle' video," she told them.

"Look up top," Jade urged.

"Our movie is the number one featured video?"

"Three million views over the weekend. And Squires is taking all the credit," the Seattle-born lamented.

"And he keeps deleting all my very creative negative comments," Jade added.

"I particularly liked the one questioning the species of his mother."

"Which one? There were three or four like that." The pair shared a grin before a fresh groan of disgust from their friend interrupted their banter.

"Ulch," Tori sounded revolted. "Look at this. He's using our movie to promote himself."

"What did he write?" Freddie was curious.

"Catch me Tuesday night on the Mack Murphy show."

"Hey," Freddie turned to the darker-haired of the two girls, "don't they tape Mack Murphy down the street, off Sunset?"

"Yeah, I think they do," Jade replied slowly.

"So, maybe we should go?" Tori suggested.

"Ulch, gross," Jade wasn't convinced. "Talk shows are for tourists and Canadians."

"And revenge-seekers," Tori's eyes shone.

"Ah, so what's the plan?" Freddie liked the sound of what she was thinking.

"I don't know. You're smart, she's mean, come up with something," Tori left them to it, gathering up her things and walking off. The two remaining teens looked at one another.

"Let's get to work," Freddie suggested. Jade smiled wickedly and followed him to their first class; the music room was empty so they were able to plot in peace for a few minutes before it started.

"I could call Sam?" he suggested. "She'd give him a beat-down for us."

"Yeah," his friend drawled thoughtfully, "you know me though; I prefer getting people back in a way that makes them sorry for a long time."

"A beating from her would do that," he insisted.

"I know, but it wouldn't _humiliate_ him."

"Being beaten up by a teenage girl wouldn't be a humiliation?" Freddie was surprised that Jade dismissed it so easily.

"Not unless it was done _very _publically and I can't see the Mack Murphy show security just watching him get beaten up. No, we need something more subtle and embarrassing…" she tapped her pen thoughtfully against her notepad.

_Paramour Studios, off Sunset, Hollywood_

_Tuesday, 18__th__ May 2010_.

_The Slap Mobile_

_Tori Vega: Going to the Mack Murphy Show - for REVENGE. Moo-ha-ha-ha... _

_Feeling: Feisty_

The emcee of the night was on stage warming up the audience.

"Okay, people. Listen up, listen up. We're about 10 minutes away from go-time on up late with Mack Murphy, so let me hear you!" The crowd responded by clapping and cheering.

Tori, Jade, Cat and Freddie were standing together at the back of theatre; Cat was wearing a very nice blue dress as she and Freddie were going to a restaurant after; for that reason he was also smartly dressed in a dress shirt and grey pants.

"Look at all the stupid tourists," Jade snarled in disgust.

André arrived to join the group along with a well-built black girl.

"Hey," he greeted them, introducing the girl as his cousin, Kendra.

"Hey," Tori and Freddie welcomed the new addition.

"Pretty shirt," Cat complimented her.

"'Sup?" added Jade.

"She's a great actress," the girl's cousin explained.

"I get paid up front," Kendra reminded them; they delved into their pockets for money. "20, 30, 40, keep it coming, 50."

"Okay," Tori recapped. "So when Dale Squires sits down, you're going to wait exactly two minutes, and then you're going to..."

"André told me what to do," she cut the brunette off. "I don't have to hear it twice."

"Yes, ma'am," the intimidated teen acquiesced and lapsed into silence.

The older girl looked suspiciously at the much smaller and slimmer Cat. "What do you eat?" she challenged. "Salad?"

Cat giggled. "Sometimes," she volunteered.

"Hopefully more than that tonight," Freddie interjected; he squeezed her hand and the couple grinned at one another. "I _still_ say we should have called Sam and set her on him," he commented to Jade as they headed for their seats; Cat nodded vigorously.

"This is more public," the darker haired girl assured them.

* * *

"And you're going to be working with Johnny Depp on a big movie?" Mack asked Dale; the teens were in a small group in the audience waiting for the action to start as Murphy interviewed his guest.

"Yeah, made the deal this morning," Squires confirmed, causing the audience to applaud wildly.

"Awesome," the host enthused. "I'm betting it didn't hurt that this new short film that you just did has already gotten, what, like, three million views this week?"

"Just past four," the director disclosed.

"Have you guys seen Dale's short film?" Murphy prompted; the studio crowd applauded. It was something the host tried to build up.

"Jerk," Freddie muttered coldly.

"30 seconds," Tori noted.

"Yeah, about that film," Squires was suddenly rather more conciliatory. "I, I have to be honest."

"So you're not going into politics?" Mack joked, causing Cat to giggle and pull gently on her boyfriend's arm.

"That was off-the-cuff," she observed.

"It's just, I've been feeling kind of guilty," Dale continued.

"About?"

"Well, it wouldn't be fair for me to take all the credit for that movie. See, most of the work was done by a really talented group of students from Hollywood Arts High School here in L.A. Specifically," he drew a piece of paper from his pocket, "... I would like to give credit to Andre Harris, Jade West, Beck Oliver..."

"Oh, he's giving us credit," Cat gasped.

"On national TV," Jade added.

"...Robbie Shapiro, Freddie Benson, Cat Valentine and most importantly, Tori Vega," Squires concluded.

"Your cousin!" Tori gasped in horror towards André.

"My cousin. She's gonna... oh man."

"We have to stop her!" Tori told them; she looked over to their partner-in-crime. "Abort. Abort," she, Jade and André mouthed while making 'kill' gestures; Kendra simply gave them a thumbs up.

"No. No. No. Stop. Stop," André begged her quietly.

Freddie, on the other hand, was still grinning slightly; the gesture had done nothing to change his opinion that Squires is a douche. "Here we go," he told them, settling back in his seat.

"Hey there! Dale squires!" Kendra called.

"Uh, apparently, you have a fan in the crowd." The heavy-set girl got up and walked towards stage, pushing a stagehand to ground when he tried to intercept her. The kids, other than Freddie, looked worried; Jade actually palmed her face.

"Hey, Dale! How come you lied to me?!" she demanded.

"Uh, ma'am?" the host asked as the intimidating girl approached the duo on stage.

"I don't know you," Squires observed. He turned to the audience and repeated with a nervous laugh, "I don't know her."

"You, you don't know me?!" She sounded surprised at his denial and turned to the public, and the camera, and continued, "This man took me to a fish restaurant two weeks ago and told me he loved me, and I haven't heard from him since!"

"No, no, no, no, no," the director tried to defend himself as audience started jeering him; the Hollywood Arts kids' discomfort was increasing. Cat looked absolutely horrified; Freddie, meanwhile, was still relaxed and rather amused. "C'mon, all right, she's lying! Okay? You are a liar!" he insisted.

"Liar?!" Kendra was scandalised. "Oh no. That's it! I'm about to open up a cloud and rain all over you!" She leapt on top of the terrified celebrity screaming a war cry, "Ahhhhhhh!"

"Get off me! I don't know you!" Squires urged her as they began to wrestle.

"I wanna go back to that fish restaurant!" she demanded of him.

"Can you go to a commercial?!" he begged Murphy.

"No way, man, this is awesome!" the host replied before addressing the studio audience. "You guys liking this?" They cheered their approval; meanwhile Kendra was now holding Squires by the ankles with his neck on the seat of the couch and his head perilously close to the floor.

"Yeah! Now you're upside down! How do you like that, Dale Squires? How do you like that?"

"She's so strong," Cat observed in a small voice.

"Dale gave us credit," Tori commented weakly.

"Even I feel bad," Jade confessed.

"I don't," Freddie shrugged; he was enjoying this as much as anyone in the studio.

"We should do something," Cat insisted.

"Waffles?" André suggested.

"I like waffles," Tori agreed.

"Waffles are good," Jade echoed.

"I know a place," the songsmith got to his feet; the others followed, albeit reluctantly in the tech producer's case.

"Off we go," Tori led them from the rows.

Seeing his girlfriend's discomfort with the scene, Freddie took Cat by the hand. "I guess it's time for our reservation too then." She nodded readily.

"Yeah, it's definitely time we left here."

"What did I do?!" Dale wailed as they left.

_Off Vine, 6263 Leland Way_

"You still seem upset with him," Cat mused as the couple sat at their table waiting for their appetisers.

"I am I guess," he conceded.

"Why when he gave us credit? He made it right."

"Because he did it in the first place and suddenly back-tracking a little after the way he screwed us over… I just don't think that made us even. Seeing him suffer like that, and knowing it happened on national TV, definitely helped."

The girl turned to her drink and took a cautious sip to hide the look on her face; she didn't want to show the worry she was feeling from hearing him talk like that.

In spite of her concern she enjoyed the meal. They split their orders, sampling a little of both the house salad and buffalo mozzarella before their entrees arrived (Atlantic salmon for Cat and short ribs for Freddie). Both were in high spirits as they left; the meal and flirtatious company meant that Cat's worries were forgotten for the night. He drove her home and said goodnight with a soft kiss in the threshold to her house; her troubled feeling over his attitude towards the director returned as she settled into her bed. She pulled her stuffed toy close to her in the hope that it would ward off her woes again.

_Beck Oliver's RV_

"Wait, so let me get this straight," Jade was sat in the actor's lap, leaning her back against his chest as they reclined on his couch. "You fixed up his car, went to get the cheerleaders and while you were gone some escaped criminals stole it."

"That's what happened," he insisted lightly.

"I don't buy it," she shook her head. "Not even _Robbie_ could have that happen to him."

"Well it did," he leaned forwards and pressed his lips to her temple. "And meanwhile you guys got your revenge on our director," Beck prompted.

"You saw that?"

"Uh huh, I wasn't going to miss it when you mentioned you were going to be in the audience for the show. Of course I didn't think you'd quite do _that_ to him, especially once he'd back-tracked and name-checked us all."

"Yeah, we tried to get Kendra to abort but she didn't," Jade's tone was unusually embarrassed as she thought back on the evening; like Cat she found her mind wandering to Freddie's non-reaction. Coupled with how harshly he had described Lindsey and dismissed her beating at Sam's hands (not that she herself was upset about the Las Vegas-based blonde's actions) she felt concerned about the boy's state of mind.

Worrying about Freddie, however, could wait for tomorrow. Tonight, after they had been so busy with movies and cars for the past few days, she was content to play catch up with her boyfriend. She began to try and turn in his lap; he helped to steady her as she wriggled around to make it easier for them to kiss and cuddle.

The unlikely couple spent an enjoyable half-hour in a similar vein; they kissed enthusiastically and their hands slipped under one another's shirts, though not venturing beyond the midriff and stomach area as they traced bare flesh. Beck _did_ briefly attempt to move his a little higher but Jade clamped he elbows to her side holding them in place. He lifted his wrists to move his hands away from her skin and she briefly broke the kiss to meet his eyes.

"Sorry," she whispered, breathing slightly heavily from their actions, "I'm just not comfortable with you going anywhere like that just yet."

"That's ok, I'd never try and make you do something you didn't want to," he reassured her, swooping in to kiss her cheek. She captured his lips briefly but tenderly and smiled at him.

"It's getting late; I need to go before mom complains." She kissed him again before extricating herself and standing up, offering him her hand and pulling him to his feet. The couple embraced and kissed briefly again. "I'll see you tomorrow; goodnight Beck."

She departed with a smile; they were exploring boundaries but it was clear that they would be respected by them both. Things were good - at least until one thought hit her on the drive home. _Wait, he has _cheerleaders_ on speed dial?_

_Asphalt Café, Hollywood Arts High School_

_Wednesday, 19__th__ May 2010_.

Jade was surprised to see Cat sitting alone, staring vacantly into space. She wasn't _concerned_; after all it was fairly normal for the girl to be distracted by something, but she would usually be surrounded by other people.

"Hi Cat," she called as she took a seat to the side of the table. "Cat," she repeated a little louder as the girl didn't respond. "CAT!" she shouted, causing her best friend to jump.

"Oh hey Jade, I didn't see you arrive."

"Obviously," the pink-streak haired girl replied dryly. "What's up, you looked a million miles away. Was everything ok last night?" she asked nervously, suddenly worried that something had gone wrong in her friends' relationship.

"Oh, no, last night was great and the food was really good," the cupcake lover insisted.

"So what's wrong?" Jade pressed.

"Freddie. I just… he seemed way too happy to see Dale get set on by André's cousin, even after he gave us the credit for the movie. It's like he didn't care about seeing him get hurt."

"I know," the gothic brunette noted, "I thought the same thing. He was the same way when Sam beat up Lindsey when she came over back in September; it was like he actually _relished_ seeing her get hurt."

"I don't like relish," Cat informed her, "I always take it off my burger."

"Cat," Jade sighed wearily, "anyway it seems like, even though you two are obviously _really_ happy together, there's still some lingering issue with him over what Lindsey did."

"You're right and I don't know why," Cat complained. "Ok, she dumped him and it hurt him but these things happen. For him to _resent_ it after all this time is just odd."

"You're right," the mean girl was treading delicately to avoid breaching her male friend's confidence, "it's like he's just not the boy who started at Hollywood Arts with us anymore."

"I _do_ like this Freddie," the redhead insisted, "but we need to get the old one back."

"Let's get thinking on how to do it," Jade agreed; for his own sake she felt Cat was right about that.

* * *

**AN: Thanks for reading. I hope to be back with the next chapter next week so I will see you all then. In the meantime, please let me know what you thought of it. Oh, and One Horse Shay has updated _We Love Each Other_; you should check that out if you haven't already done so. PD.**


	19. Chapter 19: A Day At Beach With Friends

**AN: Hello everyone and welcome to the latest instalment of A Place To Call Home; I hope that you are all well and are continuing to enjoy this story. As always at this point a huge thank you to everyone who read and, particularly, reviewed chapter 18; I always value your feedback and appreciate the time you take to read my work and critique it.**

**Fanfic-Reader-88 – yes Freddie knows, or thinks he does, about Steven; there'll be more to come once he's sure that they are one and the same (assuming, of course, that they in fact are).**

**Challenge King – yes, Lindsey does, I think, regret things now; Freddie is happy and she is not so maybe that's what she regrets, or maybe there's another reason for it; perhaps we'll find out what she's thinking one day. As for Freddie not being Freddie and needing 'fixing', well he wasn't happy and was rather more vindictive than the Freddie of old; that is a concern for the girls.**

**Darck Ben – yes, we need a little conflict now and again to keep things interesting; I'm glad you liked it.**

**Agent-M – old Freddie with a new car smell? Interesting image that conjures up.**

**Pbow – good points on Freddie and Squires; again their issue is more that it wasn't how they'd expect him to act and that troubles them greatly.**

**Guest – yes, Freddie's reaction to Squires was similar to his (non-) reaction to Sam beating up Lindsey when she visited in chapter 3. That's what bothers Cat and Jade. He's a lot better than he was but something about it all still bothers him (understandable, given what happened to him). It's true that her friends didn't like the idea of her being with Freddie; would that still be the case now? Maybe but I think age differences become less of an issue as one gets older, perhaps by her senior year dating a junior would be less of a deal than a sophomore dating a freshman. Anyway it's largely irrelevant since he's with Cat. Freddie will have his way of making sure that he can prove things to Carly; I'll say no more for now. As for the other points about Cat/Cary or Carly/Sam confrontations and discussions – all in good time.**

**That's everyone, I think, so we'll get on with the story.**

* * *

Chapter 19: A Day At The Beach With Friends… kinda.

_Benson Residence, Hollywood Hills, Los Angeles_

_Thursday, 17__th__ June 2010_.

Freddie Benson was frustrated; he was home from his fencing class, which had gone very well once again (he was one lesson away from graduating the advanced class and the studio were already in talks with him about becoming an instructor himself; he figured the extra money would come in useful) but his good mood from the class was evaporating as he attempted to do one final hunt on-line for _anything_ that might help his friends Tori and André get their much deserved recognition for the song _You're the Reason_. Beyonce had recorded it and it had shot to number one in the first week of its release, much to the teens' annoyance as they were unable to get anything from its success. It seemed, from what he had discovered, that Tori handing her sister the only hard copy of the song constituted giving her the rights to it and, once Trina sold them to someone else, it ceased to be the property of any of the Vegas and became the studios' to do with as they pleased – and they now stood to profit greatly from the song's success. Annoyed, he clicked off the website and was about to log off when he scanned the list of people available to chat on-line. He saw Cat's screen-name and was a little surprised that she hadn't requested a chat; he clicked on her name and placed the call, waiting as the request continued to beep.

"Hi!" his girlfriend called, a little breathlessly as she swept her slightly damp, red hair out of her eyes and furnished him with her adorable smile. "I just switched it on and went back downstairs while it loaded up; my mom heard it beeping so I ran up to see what was happening," she explained.

"Oh, am I disturbing you?" he asked apologetically.

"No, we were just sitting downstairs by the fridge with cups of Shave Ice."

"That sounds like a great idea," the boy commended; he was, of course, well aware of the heat wave engulfing the city at the moment. "My mom doesn't believe in that sort of stuff though," he noted regretfully, "I guess I'll have to make do with bottled water from the fridge."

"Your mom's funny," Cat giggled; her face fell a moment later and she clapped her left hand over her mouth. "Oh, I didn't mean to…"

"It's ok," he reassured her, "I – of _all_ people – know how she is; though she's been a little better since I moved out last year."

"Are you busy tonight?" the girl pried gently.

"Not really; I was looking for something to help the guys get some money from the song you performed for Trina; it looks like there's nothing we can do though," he finished sadly, "you?"

"Trying to stay cool," she sighed. "I'm sorry but think I need to head downstairs now for some more Shave Ice and to put my head in the freezer; see you tomorrow?"

"Of course," he grinned and they clicked off. Freddie sighed again and leaned back in his chair, pulling his sticky shirt away from his body; it really _was_ hot, even with the air conditioner working to overcome some of the heat of the LA evening (it had been switched off when the boy arrived at home; he assumed Marissa was airing the house before she left for her night shift at the hospital). He decided to just discard the shirt altogether, seeing as nobody else was home, and headed down to raid the fridge for bottled water, making sure to replace the two he took with a few more from the cupboard; with the heat wave forecast to continue for several days yet he figured they would be needed.

The former iCarly tech producer did allow himself a little reflection on how things were going for his friendship group as he closed his eyes and relaxed on the couch, pressing one of the ice-cold bottles to his forehead and smiling at the sensation; his job was going well, André, having also turned sixteen, had found a job on the counter at _Yotally Togurt _in the Northridge mall and it occupied a few of his evenings (though, like Freddie, he kept Tuesday free for the gym and Thursday for fencing). Beck, meanwhile, was also working; he had landed a job at a local garage, given his aptitude for working on cars. He also figured it was a potential fallback option if it took his acting career a while to get off the ground (or if indeed, it never did for whatever reason). His landing a job had annoyed Jade a bit as it meant the couple had less free time together. The dark brunette was mollified, however, by Beck's point that it meant that he could buy her more coffee.

Freddie grinned at the thought of the other couple, particularly seeing Jade happy. His thoughts then turned to his own, little red-headed, girlfriend and his smile broadened. _Things are going well_, the boy thought; his blonde ex-girlfriend and the pain she had caused him were not even a distant memory for him at the moment.

_Asphalt Café, Hollywood Arts High School_

_Friday, 18__th__ June 2010_.

It was lunchtime for the gang; Tori, Beck and Robbie (and Rex) were sat at one of the tables in the outdoor area. Jade, Cat and Freddie, who had been together in science before the break, were still making their way through the school.

"Oh my God! I am so hot!" the half-Latina moaned as she desperately tried to fan herself.

"Ain't that the truth," Rex piped up, eliciting a disgusted look from the light brunette; she was missing Steven while he was up in Seattle for the month, having only phone calls where they argued playfully about which one missed the other more, and being hit on by a puppet (or, worse still, Robbie via his puppet) wasn't helping her mood one bit.

"What's the temperature now?" Beck asked as casually as he could.

"Well, according to my pear pad..." Robbie began; Beck and Tori groaned as he began to tap on it, "Here in Hollywood, it is 103 degrees." The pair groaned again at the news.

"Man, I hate sweating," the Canadian actor complained.

"I know," the singer agreed. "My arms feel like warm, wet ham." In spite of the heat, Beck chuckled at her observation.

"Hi. I'm really hot, but I'm still in a good mood," Cat had arrived; the ebullient teen was dressed in a short, vibrantly patterned red, yellow and blue dress; Freddie followed just behind (sneaking more than the occasional look at his girl's bare legs as he did); he himself was dressed in khaki shorts and a penny T (dark blue with 'Clown Candy' written in yellow) while Jade wore her customary black, albeit looser-fitting and more lightweight clothing than normal; she took a seat between Tori and Beck while the couple sat together between ventriloquist and long-haired actor.

"Robbie, you done with that water?" the gothic girl asked.

"No," he seized his bottle defensively.

"Give it to me," she demanded in a threatening voice.

"Alright," he meekly surrendered the drink.

Tori stared at the new arrival in surprise; she leaned in, drawing a confused look from Jade, and rested her hands on her shoulder.

"What?" the pale girl demanded impatiently.

"You're not sweating!" Tori exclaimed in surprise.

"Uh huh," Jade confirmed. Tori began patting at her face and neck in an attempt to confirm that the girl was bone dry; Jade just smiled as she did that. Freddie looked across the table from one to the other; he pulled a questioning face before shaking his head.

"Nah", he muttered, dismissing the thought from his mind. Only Cat heard this and she gave him a curious look.

"Having fun there?" the blue-streak haired girl asked, causing her best friend to lose her train of thought; she turned her attention to her bottle of water instead.

"How can you not be sweating?" Tori panted incredulously.

"I don't sweat," she replied simply.

"Everyone sweats," her 'rival' observed reasonably.

"Not Jade," Freddie informed her.

"Jade never sweats," Beck confirmed; Cat shook her head in support of the boys.

"What do you mean she never sweats?" the surprised girl sought elaboration.

"Sweating is gross so I don't do it," she explained matter-of-factly.

"So, what, you're just like cold-blooded?" Tori pressed.

"Jade? Cold-Blooded? Hmmm, what a surprise," Rex commented. Beck chuckled, Jade opened a bottle of sunblock and squirted a copious amount over the puppet's face. Cat and Freddie laughed as Rex screamed.

"That witch got sunscreen in my eyes. Help me Rob," it begged; Freddie turned to glare at the handler who, fortunately, wasn't looking at him.

"It's okay. Don't fret. There you go," Robbie wiped his face clean with a tissue.

"Oh, now my face is gonna tan unevenly," Rex complained; Freddie palmed his face and shook his head in defeat and resignation.

"What's up amigos, amigirls?" André had joined the gathering and was wielding a fistful of dead presidents.

"What's all that money for?" Cat asked curiously.

"Me," the songsmith smiled. "I set up a kiddie pool over there and I'm charging people five bucks for five minutes." He looked over to the pool and called, "Sinjin! You got three more minutes."

"Okay." The socially awkward teen splashed happily in the water.

"Is it true that sweat and pee are like... 'cousins?'" Cat asked with a giggle.

"Technically they're not too dissimilar," Freddie began to explain to her; Jade rolled her eyes a little at the onset of 'nerd babble'. "They're both salty water secreted by the body. Pee has a few other things in it though."

"Oh, 'kay 'kay," his girlfriend smiled at his talk and took another swig of water.

"Man, how long is this heat wave gonna last?" Beck grumbled.

"They say 'til Tuesday," Tori told him.

"Why would they say that?" Cat asked in annoyance.

"Sweetie; that's the weather forecast," Freddie began patiently. "That's why they're saying that. They don't control the weather, just predict it."

"Ok, 'kay 'kay," she repeated in a slightly embarrassed tone before giggling again; the teenage couple shared a smile before his eyes began to roam up and down her bare legs. Spotting his gaze she stretched her legs out a little and gave a coy smile as she took one of his hands in hers and playfully tugged at his fingers.

"Wow, it's up to 106 in the valley," Robbie exclaimed as he studied his pear pad again; the group at the table groaned as one.

"Hey, check Venice beach," Beck suggested suddenly.

"Okay. Venice is… only 91 degrees!"

"Oh, let's go to Venice," Tori pleaded.

"You guys wanna?" Beck asked.

"What, blow off school?" Jade was surprised at the proposal.

"I can get with that," Rex agreed.

"I meant Sunday, since so many of us work on a Saturday now we can't go tomorrow. I could borrow my uncle's pickup, hook it up my RV and we could all hit the beach."

"Let's do it." "Well, that sounds really cool, man," the group gave their assent.

Unfortunately for them all, Trina happened to be walking by at that moment. "The beach? I am so in," the diva was elated.

"No, no, no, no, no." "Stay away." "No." "Wait a second..." they all began.

"I can't wait," she grinned, ignoring them and walking off.

"No one likes you!" Jade snapped at her retreating back; Freddie gave her a sympathetic smile.

"Hey! Hey, Sinjin. He's face down in the kiddie pool," Tori suddenly spotted that the boy wasn't moving.

Jade leaned around her to have a look; in an unconcerned tone she simply commented, "Yep."

"It's cool. He's still got two minutes left," the dreadlocked teen pointed out.

"No!" Tori screeched and she, Freddie and Robbie rushed over; they reached into the water and the boys turned him over onto his back. "Are you okay?" she asked; Sinjin gargled in response.

"Maybe you should give him mouth to mouth," Robbie suggested; Tori looked at the teen in the pool for a moment with an unenthusiastic expression on her face.

"He's alright," she dropped his head against the side of the pool.

The trio returned to the table for the last few minutes of lunch; after the bell rang they walked away. Freddie sidled up to Robbie briefly and addressed him in a low, menacing voice, "What I said about Cat applies to Jade as well; even if she _can_ take care of herself." He walks off to catch up with his girl without waiting for a reply; Robbie had pulled a terrified face as he watched the more muscular teen go.

_Pear Store, __189 The Grove Drive, West Hollywood_

_Saturday, 19__th__ June 2010_.

"Hi!" Freddie heard his girlfriend's happy voice as he stood by the brilliance bar; his back was to the store and he raised his eyebrows a little as he heard her before he turned to meet her smiling face.

"Hey, what are you doing here?" he asked her, his own smile growing rapidly; a couple of the guys he worked with began shooting him jealous looks as the pretty girl leaned on the counter to steal a quick kiss from his lips.

"I'm here to see you, silly," she teased. "My mom sent me; she's having problems with her pear top, it made a funny whirring noise and then a couple of sparks flew out of it and then it started smoking and she thought that didn't look right."

"It's certainly not the way they're supposed to work," her boyfriend agreed, "and obviously it's a good thing to bring it here as I'm not sure I could fix it from home," he nodded approvingly.

The couple stared at one another for a few seconds; Freddie was waiting expectantly while Cat wore her usual dreamy expression.

"So, where is it?" Freddie broke the silence.

"Oh, I didn't bring it," she told him.

"So… how am I supposed to fix it then?"

"Oh my gosh, you're so right!" She turned and dashed out of the store; he wasn't the only male to watch the girl in a baby-pink T-shirt and very short Daisy Dukes leave. He smiled as he watched her go before shaking his head and getting on with his work, greeting her again at the counter (this time complete with the offending item) a few minutes later.

"It's still hot out there," she grumbled to him, fanning herself with her hand and rueing the store's 'no drinks' policy as she was feeling a little thirsty.

"Stay and browse for a little while," he suggested before dropping his voice to a whisper, "I shouldn't say this but it's not like you _have_ to buy anything while you're in here today."

"'kay 'kay, I'll stay here for a bit then," she smiled and began to wander the store while Freddie carried his girlfriend's mother's computer to his own work area so that he could take a look at it once he finished his current job.

_Sunday, 20__th__ June 2010_.

_The Slap Mobile_

_Tori Vega: On our way to THE BEACH!_

_Gonna COOOOL off! So psyched! :)_

_Mood= Pumped_

_Venice Beach_

Beck backed the RV into one of the parking spots by the beach; he and Jade, today wearing a black dress that stopped just short of her knees and her blue extensions in her hair, got out of cab, exchanged little smiles and opened the door to the trailer.

They were surprised to be greeted by the cupcake-loving redhead on the steps as they opened up; Cat sprinted past them chanting,

"Got to pee, got to pee, got to pee," over and over.

"Hurry back!" Beck urged her.

"'Kay 'kay!" she called back.

"She has the bladder of a squirrel," Jade observed as Freddie joined them at the door.

"Actually I'm going to go with her, make sure she's ok," he told them, slipping between the couple and heading down the steps.

"You don't trust her to go to the bathroom and back by herself?" Jade asked in surprise.

"She didn't realise there was a bathroom IN the RV," he pointed out before turning her question around. "You do?"

Jade paused for a moment before smiling and shrugging. "Go on," she waved him off and joined Beck inside the trailer.

"Who's ready for beach fun?" he asked the teens.

"Beck, this RV is so cool," Trina enthused.

"Oh, thanks!"

"And you like, live in this?" the older Vega sought to confirm.

"Yeah, well, parked in my parents' driveway," he clarified.

"Freddie stayed here for a while when he moved out of his place; it was when Beck hurt his knee fencing," Jade told the sisters.

"Freddie moved out? When? Why?" Tori was surprised to have not heard this story during her time at Hollywood Arts.

"Well..." Jade began, talking them through as much of the story as she could; André and Beck, who had been with him at the hospital that night, filled in some of the details as well.

"Ok, interesting… Oh hey, how come all these windows are tinted so dark?" the singer asked.

"'Cause my dad bought it from a rapper," Beck explained.

"All the windows are made of bullet-proof glass," Jade added.

"What rapper?" the songsmith's curiosity was piqued by this detail.

"Fat biscuit," Beck replied.

"THE fat biscuit?" Tori was surprised that they were connected, however tangentially, to one of the big names in the rap music world.

"Oh, my gosh," Robbie was equally shocked.

"Uh huh," Beck shrugged casually.

"You know, I heard he's thin now," the ventriloquist shared the gossip and rumours with them.

"Yeah, he had that stomach surgery," Tori had also heard the story.

"Aw, good for Fat Biscuit," her sister noted before a thought occurred to the younger Vega.

"Hey," she addressed the gothic teen.

"What?"

"Does it worry you that you never sweat?"

"No."

"But what if one day all your sweat, like, builds up inside and you just explode?"

Jade paused for half a second before replying in a slightly anticipatory voice, "I would love that."

"Alright, it's starting to get hot in here," the dreadlocked musician observed.

"Yeah, let's go," Tori echoed.

"Let's hit that beach!" Robbie agreed.

"This way, people," Beck pushed on the door.

"What's wrong?" his girlfriend asked as the door remained closed.

"I don't know; the door won't open." The teens all looked from one to another in concern.

Unbeknown to the teens another RV had backed into the spot next to theirs; it was so close to them that the door wouldn't open. A middle-aged guy got out, looked around him and declared,

"Man, I love the beach!"

His wife, son and daughter followed him out as he dashed down to the sands.

"You got the sunscreen for daddy?" his wife asked with a sigh; her daughter confirmed with a nod and brandished a giant bottle. "Come on," she led them down the beach.

_Beck's RV_

"Just open it," Jade urged as Beck leant against the door.

"Something's blocking the door," her boyfriend complained.

"Oh, man! Some idiot parked a huge R.V. right next to us," Tori had looked through the window and discovered the reason for their predicament.

"Whatever, let's just go out the back door," Trina thought she had hit upon an easy solution.

"There _is_ no back door," Beck shot her plan down.

"Well, that's stupid," the older sister remarked.

"I'm getting very hot now," André moaned.

"Will somebody open a window?" Robbie pleaded.

"The windows are bulletproof. They don't open," Jade informed him.

"Aw, thanks a lot, Fat Biscuit," Rex complained.

"What?" Jade glared.

"I meant the rapper from whom Beck's daddy purchased this vehicle!" the puppet clarified nervously.

"I'm getting hotter," the songsmith wailed.

"Just push on the door," Tori begged Beck.

"I can't push a 7,000-Pound R.V. out of the way," he replied patiently.

The half-Latina thought for a second before urging, "Then push harder!"

Jade started nagging her boyfriend; everyone was talking at once and over one another; Beck was ignoring his girl and instead addressed the new student.

"That doesn't make any sense!"

"Alright, alright! Let's not bug out," André shouted over them.

"Dude, nobody knows we're trapped in this toaster oven," Tori observed.

"Cat and Freddie just went to the bathroom," he reasoned. "They will be back in a few minutes and then they can start Beck's truck and then pull us forward so we can get out."

"Good point," Rex congratulated him.

"Okay," Jade calmed down.

"I freaked out. I'm sorry," Beck told him as he passed the musician and took a seat.

"Come on. It's all good," his friend replied.

_Venice Beach_

The young couple, meanwhile, were making their way back from the bathroom block; they were strolling hand-in-hand, enjoying chatting amiably as they walked along the beach together, realising as they did that it was something they realised that they had never done together as a couple. Despite it being cooler than in the city it was still a hot day so Freddie had opted to strip to his shorts, tying his shirt loosely around his waist while Cat had also removed her shirt, draping it over her free arm and displaying her bright red bikini top. The red-haired girl kept stopping them to give her boy a quick peck on the lips; it was an activity that he was more than happy to participate in. During one of these stops they noticed a small knot of guys and girls around their age up ahead and heard some music coming from their cab.

"What song's that?" Cat asked curiously as they approached.

"I don't know. We could ask them," her boy gestured to group sat by the vehicle.

"`kay `kay," she then raised her voice to the other teenagers. "Hey."

"Hi," one of the guys greeted them smiling at the short girl.

"'Sup?" one of the girls' eyes lingered on Freddie, despite his hand being interlaced with Cat's.

"What's that song you're playing?" the red-head asked the boy.

"I'm not sure," he answered.

"Well, it's really cool," she complimented.

"Do you wanna hang out with us?" the girl asked this while eyeing Freddie with a smile; Cat spotted this and squeezed his hand a little tighter and edged closer to him.

"Oh, we can't; we need to get back to our friends," the tech wizard explained regretfully.

"Oh, come on. Just hang with us for a few minutes," the guy asked, smiling at Cat.

"Please," the girl backed him up; the couple exchanged looks before Cat smiled at them, "Okay then."

Freddie scanned the beach as they joined the small group, "I can't see the others. Do you think they're ok?" he asked his girl as she led him to where their new friends were sitting.

"I'm sure they are," she reassured him.

"Yeah, we both have our phones; they'd have called us if there was a problem," he reasoned. "You guys have anything to drink? I could do with cooling down a little." His girl nodded vigorously by his side.

"Oh, I've got something better than that," the guy grinned.

_Beck's RV_

"Where are they?" Tori panted; like most of the others she had stripped to her swimsuit but was still cooking merrily in the heat of the RV.

"They've been gone for 20 minutes," Robbie supplied.

"The girl only weighs 90 pounds. How much pee can she hold?" André wondered aloud.

"That's it, I'm calling her. What's Cat's number?" Trina asked her sister.

"I already tried," the gothic teen told her.

"No signal," Beck added.

"Oh man, I told you all not to get F-Mobile," the musician complained loudly.

"Well, where's your phone?" Tori wondered.

"I left it in my pants and my grandma washed it. All my contacts, gone," he complained.

"Well, can we at least turn on the air conditioning?" Robbie asked.

"The A.C. Doesn't work unless the truck is running," the long-haired actor pointed out.

"Then go start the truck," the elder Vega said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"I can't get out," Beck reminded her.

"Why did you invite me here?" the diva groaned, drawing a rash of comments from the others.

"We didn't!" Tori began.

"You invited yourself!" the curly-haired ventriloquist reminded her.

"No one likes you," Jade added for good measure, causing the older girl to pull a pained face.

"I'm feeling very hot now!" the songsmith complained loudly.

Robbie, sat near the thermometer by the door, read it. "You guys, it's 102 degrees in here."

"I need a cold drink," Tori decided.

"Me too," the driver agreed.

"Where are they?" the singing star asked him.

"In the truck," the actor realised in a defeated voice.

Tori groaned again.

"What are we gonna do?" Trina wailed.

"Cat!" her sister yelled loudly.

"Freddie!" Jade joined her.

* * *

Cat screamed as Freddie's water pistol soaked her.

"Look out, look out, gonna get you," she called to her boyfriend in a sing-song voice.

"She's right behind you," Freddie's 'other girl' warned him; he had turned his attention to one of the others after dousing his girlfriend. Unfortunately he was too slow and soon his bare chest and back were absolutely drenched with ice-cold water.

"It's so cold! It's so cold!" he gasped at the laughing girl; he looked at her and grinned wickedly as she lowered her weapon. Despite the fact that she was soaked, he declared, "You're not wet enough!" and turned his water pistol on her again; the others all did the same and Cat squealed again as they all laughed at the situation.

"It _is_ cold," she gasped as the chilly water covered her again.

* * *

_Beck's RV_

"It's so hot!" Tori gasped.

"Where could they be? I hope they're okay," Jade wondered; despite her own predicament she was a little concerned about what could have happened to the couple.

* * *

Having well and truly cooled down and exhausted their water pistols the teenagers sat around again listening to the music from their cab; they handed Cat and Freddie a couple of towels and they gratefully dried off before joining them as they pulled up a couple more chairs.

"Ooh, let's dance!" the girl cried as one of her favourite songs came on a few minutes later; she pulled Freddie to his feet, leading him to an empty patch of sand a few feet away. A couple of the girls got up and began dancing with them; the guys joined in shortly after. After a couple of songs one of the girls spotted a cart coming towards them and headed over it, returning soon after with several cups.

"Hey, Shaved ice," she handed a cup to Freddie as the song ended. Cat happily accepted another cup.

"Thanks," Freddie smiled at her.

"Yay, I love shaved ice. Thank you," Cat took a big mouthful before shivering and happily crying, "Ah, brain freeze!"

Their new friends all cheered at her reaction while Freddie pulled the girl close and smiled at her.

* * *

_Beck's RV_

"I'm extremely hot now," the dreadlocked teen panted.

"We've got to get out of this stupid R.V.," Beck shot a look at Trina after she said this, "Yeah, offense," she snapped.

"We at least have to find something to drink," Tori panted.

Jade suddenly patted her boyfriend's arm. "Hey. Hey," she pointed to the corner, "Your fish tank."

"Oh, yeah!" he smiled. "I forgot about my fish tank."

"Wait. We're gonna drink fish water?" Rex sought confirmation.

"Beats dying of thirst," the songsmith reasoned.

"When was the last time you cleaned it?" Jade asked, eyeing the murky water.

Her boy gave her a sheepish look. "You're supposed to clean it?"

The other teens all groaned. "Oh, come on! We can't drink dirty fish water," Tori complained.

* * *

Cat and Freddie had made an excuse and left the group behind for a little while; they wanted to spend a little alone-time together but promised to return, not least because the red-head had borrowed a bucket-and-spade from them.

Again Freddie was a little bothered that he couldn't see the others; again Cat commented that they would have called them if there was a problem.

"Yeah, they're probably off somewhere having fun as well," he agreed with her.

"Besides," she pointed out, "it's nice to have a little alone-time, just you and me, isn't it?" She wrapped her arms around him and gave him an unusually passionate kiss; he relaxed into it, enjoying the soft texture of her lips as they pressed against his own, shivering ever so slightly as she lightly nipped at his bottom lip with her teeth; all thoughts of the others were banished from his mind by her actions. The two stood in lip-lock for a couple of minutes, lost in their own little world, before separating for a much needed breath; Freddie exhaled wonderingly and looked briefly towards the heavens.

"Oh yay, sandcastle," she cried in excitement, slipping her free hand down to his side and taking his in it, leading him at speed down the beach to a reasonably unpopulated area. The girl flung herself down onto the sand, enjoying its warmth against her still cool skin, following its dousing during the water fight. Freddie took a seat on the sand; its heat helping counteract the cold, wet material of his trunks as he watched his girl lose herself completely in her activity; he smiled, distractedly running his right index finger over his bottom lip while he enjoyed the sight of the scantily-clad teen clearly having so much fun.

"Ok," she called happily a few minutes later, "Cat's castle is finished," she declared with a tone of satisfaction; she had put four buckets at corners (surprising herself as much as her 'tutor' with the accuracy of the distances and angles between them) and scooped up some sand, wetting it slightly to improve its support, and making some ramparts between them.

"Wow, Cat; that's a great castle," he complimented; she grinned and sat next to him on the sand, from where he was admiring her handiwork. She leaned over and kissed his cheek softly; he turned his head and they began to kiss and cuddle again.

"That was nice," he told her, swooping in to plant a quick peck on her nose; it drew an uncontrollable giggle from the girl.

"It was; I love it when we get to spend time together Freddie," she gave him a shy smile.

Freddie pushed himself to his feet and helped his girlfriend up; she looked at him in mild surprise. "We need to return their bucket-and-spade," he reminded her, "and we should probably find out what's happened to the others."

"'kay 'kay," she agreed and gathered up her tools.

"Oh, and you can tell your mom that her computer will be ready to collect tomorrow night; I don't have it finished _just_ yet but it should be done during my shift tomorrow so if someone comes along at the end of it, it'll be good to go."

"That's great; what was the matter with it?" Cat asked.

"The power unit needed replacing and it had damaged one of the other components. I swapped them out and it seemed ok so I just need to put it all back together and make sure there's nothing else wrong once I do."

"Hey, you're back," one of the group smiled as they rejoined them. "Just in time, we're going to throw a football around for a bit; you want to join in?" he asked Freddie.

"Yeah and we're going to make a few pots," the girl who had taken a shine to Freddie chimed in, "Cat, do you want to do a little pottery?"

"I guess," she smiled and headed off with them; Freddie sighed a little, realising that they _wouldn't_ be returning to the others just yet, before smiling at the other guys.

"Let's play some football," he told them; they cheered and raced en masse down the sand.

"Ok, just keep your hands steady," Cat was told as she sat at the wheel and began to mould the lump of clay.

"Steady," she repeated, giggling again as the cool substance coated her hands and they began to wobble as she squirmed at the sensation. Her friend took a seat behind her and helped to guide her hands a little by gently holding her wrists.

* * *

_Beck's RV_

Jade was lying on her boyfriend's bed; she had stripped to her bikini but the temperature was continuing to rise and her discomfort with it.

"Okay. Okay, something's dripping on me," she called out to Beck in a panicked voice. "Something's dripping on me!" she repeated nervously.

The Canadian teen walked over and held his hand above her; it stayed dry. "Nothing's dripping," he informed her.

"Yes, look on my arm. See?" she insisted. "And on my forehead. What's going on? What's happening?"

"You're sweating," he told her calmly.

"No. No, I'm not. I don't sweat," the mean girl began to freak out. "I am not sweating."

"Look at me," he saw the girl was beginning to shake so he took hold of her right arm.

"No," she wailed, her shakes intensifying.

"Look at me," he repeated and took her left arm too.

"No," she continued to shake violently.

"Look at me!" he shouted.

"What?"

"You're sweating," he tried to soothe her.

"We gotta get out of here," she cried in an unusually squeaky voice.

* * *

"Get him, get him," Freddie heard the shout as he caught the ball; he turned to face the boys charging towards him, steadied himself and threw a reasonable spiral to one of his team mates. The 'defenders' laughed and turned as best as they could on the sand, setting off in pursuit of the ball, spinning again as it sailed over their heads again and back to the former Seattle native. This time he was too slow with his delivery and the other boys caught him, wrestling him to the ground amid renewed laughter from the three of them.

"Ok, guys, your ball," he handed it to them and shook the sand from his hair; the pair took over throwing the ball while Freddie and his 'team mate' had to try and recover it.

Eventually the guys tired of their friendly scrimmage and made their way back to join the girls by the main 'camp'.

"Hey; you spun a nice pot there," Freddie complimented his girl and kissed her cheek as he admired her handiwork.

"Thanks; it was fun. They helped me spin it," she informed him.

"Later, after lunch, we'll glaze it," the girl who continued to admire him simpered.

"Thank you but we really should be getting back to our friends," Cat told her, suddenly a little more eager to depart from them.

"Oh, you can't leave now," Freddie's team mate urged them. "Paul made tuna tartare for after the game; we caught the tuna this morning."

"You gotta stay for the tuna tartare," the girl urged Freddie.

"Have some tuna," was requested of Cat.

The couple looked at one another for a moment before they shrugged, "Okay."

* * *

_Beck's RV_

The group of teenagers were sweating freely; all of them were lying on any surface they could find and had stripped to the bare minimum of clothing that could still be considered modest and were still far too hot. They continued to groan and lament their predicament.

"These fish mock me," Robbie growled before sitting up and staring at the tank. "I'm gonna drink that filthy water."

The others took up, with one voice, "No. No, Robbie. Robbie, don't."

"I need to do it. What choice do I have?" he argued.

"It's his call," Beck conceded but it didn't stop him in sharing the same disgusted look that the others wore as the ventriloquist dove his head into tank and started to drink from it.

"Well?" André prompted.

Robbie gagged and looked for the nearest suitable receptacle; he threw up in Trina's bag.

"Oh, no!" the diva wailed. "No, no. That's my bag."

"Don't drink the fish water," the bespectacled teen wailed mournfully.

"What do we do?" Tori sighed.

"I don't know," Beck admitted.

* * *

"Thank you for a really cool few hours," Freddie shook some of the guys' hands; Cat hovered by his side lest any of the girls wanted a goodbye kiss from the handsome teen. "The football was great and that tartare? You really found the recipe on-line?"

"Sure did," Paul smiled.

"I've got to look on that site then; it was awesome."

"Thank you for the bucket and spade – and the pot," Cat showed off her now dried and glazed item and smiled around at the gang.

"Hopefully we'll see you guys again sometime," one of the girls smiled at the couple; they waved before Freddie took his girl's hand and they headed Back towards the RV.

"You know, Cat, I'm surprised we haven't seen any of them today; the beach is pretty big but even so, I can't imagine they were all just sat in the same place all day knowing that we were out here somewhere."

"Well, let's just head to the RV and then we can go looking for them when we drop off my pot," she suggested.

"Good thinking," he congratulated his girl, "at the very least they'll have left a note or something saying where we can find them."

* * *

_Beck's RV_

"When I was a little boy," André began, "my grandma, before she lost her mind, she used to say to me, 'Andre, no matter how bad things get, you can always make it better by singing a song.'"

"That's so stupid," Jade panted.

Undeterred, Tori began, in a feeble voice, "_You don't have to be afraid to put your dreams in action, you're never gonna fade you'll be the main attraction_,"

Her friends took up the chorus with her, "_Not a fantasy, just remember me when it turns out right. 'Cause you know that if you live in your..._"

Outside, Cat and Freddie had just climbed the steps to the door; they exchanged looks, rather surprised to hear their friends sat inside the RV balefully singing. They opened the door.

"Hi, everyone!" Cat giggled and waved happily at them; Freddie entered just behind her, fanning himself as the wall of heat hit him.

Excited shouts greeted the teens as the group realised their freedom had arrived; the girls screamed and the couple were mobbed by their friends as they finally ran out and exited the RV. André and Beck headed straight for the truck and grabbed drinks from the cooler.

"You guys really missed us," Cat observed before turning to her best friend. "Ew, Jade, you're all sweaty."

"Never speak of it!" the gothic teen snapped.

"What happened?" Freddie was curious about the whole thing.

"We were trapped in there," Tori pointed to the offending vehicle, "for hours."

"Hope you had a nice pee," Trina snarled at them.

"Trapped? Why didn`t you just call us?" the tech producer asked, glancing at his phone with its full bars of reception.

"No phone signal," Beck explained; Freddie double-checked his and gave the teen a questioning expression followed by a shrug.

"Why didn't you guys just open the door?" Cat asked.

"'Cuz there's a gigantic R.V. parked right..." Beck gestured to the doorway before realising the lack of an obstructing vehicle. "I guess they left and we didn't even know," he added in a small voice.

"And they say _Cat's_ the dizzy one..." Freddie muttered to himself before shaking his head.

"Who cares? It's over," the songsmith declared.

"I drank fish water," Robbie sounded horrified at his actions.

"What?" Cat looked to Jade for an explanation.

Jade began to explain; she told the couple about everything that had happened over the hours that they had been gone. How they had discovered the RV next to them blocking them in, how their only respite from the heat had been Tori's tiny battery-powered fan that soon gave out, how Trina had, unbeknown to the rest, had a bottle of water with her that a couple of them had had a tiny taste of before Robbie drank the last of it, how he had drunk from Beck's fish tank (before vomiting in Trina's bag – _she might want to empty it and wash it before we do much else_ Freddie observed – and how they had been reduced to singing André and Tori's song from the showcase to keep their spirits up before the couple finally returned.

"I can't believe you were gone for so long," the blue-streak haired girl complained.

"Oh," Freddie looked a little embarrassed at the complaint; his girlfriend wrapped an arm around his shoulders and smiled broadly.

"We met this group of kids our age and just got talking to them and having fun. Look, I made this pot!" She brandished it proudly before heading inside the RV to set it down on the table.

"We really did get on with a group," Freddie elaborated under Jade's questioning eyebrow, "I had no idea that you were stuck in here and just figured you'd call if there was an issue. Cat borrowed a bucket and spade from them; you know how she is about 'Cat's castle'," Jade nodded wearily, "and we had a lot of fun with them…"

"Well _we_ didn't," the dark brunette snapped, "you have no idea how bad it was stuck in that death box with Robbie and the Vega sisters."

"Tori's not that bad," Freddie told her lightly.

"I see you never said anything about the other two," Jade teased with a smirk and the discomfort grew on the boy's face caused her to laugh.

"It's alright," Tori interrupted the discussions. "Come on, guys, it's only 4:30, and there's a large Pacific ocean right over there. Let's enjoy that ocean."

Cat had just appeared at the top of the stairs as the others began to head for the sands; Freddie looked to his girl with a smile, "You want to swim first or make another sand castle?"

"SWIM!" the girl cried happily; she grabbed his hand and drags him, unprotesting, to the sea.

While his girl splashed happily with the others Freddie decided to work a little on his swimming strokes; he pushed out a reasonable distance from shore, looking back with a smile at the sight of his girl having fun with the others (although he noticed Jade knelt by the water's edge, content to run some over her still hot and sweaty skin but not actually venturing into the seas with the rest of them).

"You didn't swim," he commented later as they headed back up the beach towards the RV to go home.

"I don't go in the ocean," she said brusquely.

"Is there a reason?"

"Yes."

"Are you going to tell me?" he asked teasingly.

"Fine," she sighed, "when I was in third grade I went swimming with dolphins with my mom; one of them got a little… eager and I was suddenly panicking in the water as I got separated from my mom. I," she shuddered a little, "I really thought for a minute that I was going to drown so now I just don't go in the ocean at all. Pools are fine but not open water."

Freddie nodded, eyeing the girl with concern in his soft, brown eyes. "You miss out on a lot of fun then but it's understandable that it still freaks you out," he said reasonably; she smiled at his understanding.

"Alright," Beck called, "anyone need the bathroom before we go?" He eyed Cat in particular.

"Uh yeah, I'll go," she replied.

"Let's all wait out here until she gets back," Tori suggested. The others agreed and sat waiting, enjoying the last of the drinks from their cooler as they watched their red-haired friend skip back along the beach.

_Benson residence, Hollywood Hills_

"Hey mom," Freddie called as he walked through the front door; Cat followed just behind him.

"Freddie!" Marissa cried, happy to see her son. "Hello Cat," she managed to furnish his girlfriend with a surprisingly genuine-looking smile.

"How was work?"

"Busy," she complained theatrically, "you wouldn't believe the number of heat-stroke victims we've had to deal with, especially among the elderly."

"I can believe it with how hot it's been," he empathised.

"Did you have a good time at the beach?" his mother asked.

"We did, thank you Mrs Benson," Cat answered politely. "We made sand castles and swam in the ocean and all sorts of things."

"Well I'm glad you had a good day but if you've been in the ocean Freddie…"

"Mom I am _not_ taking any sort of a bath tonight," he told her firmly, "I'll have a cool shower before bedtime to make sure I get all the salt off my body but that's it."

The matriarch bit her lip before silently admitting defeat. "Would you like a drink?" she asked the couple.

"Do you have any Shave Ice?" Cat asked.

"No, I don't keep that sort of thing in the house."

"Oh right, you said that earlier," she giggled to her boy. "Just some water then please."

"I'll get them," he patted the girl on the thigh before picking up a couple of bottles from the fridge. "Do you want one mom?" he called.

"No, I'm fine thank you Freddie," she replied, cautiously eyeing Cat as the two sat alone in the living room; the teenager giggled nervously under her stare.

"Thank you," she accepted the bottle from the boy and took a draught. "Brain freeze again," she observed with a shudder causing the Bensons to exchange looks; Freddie's was amused, Marissa's concerned.

"Will you be staying long?" the Head Nurse enquired, "it _is_ a school night after all."

"Oh that's right," the redhead gasped, "I'd better get home soon then."

"Sure, we'll finish our drinks and I'll drive you home," her boyfriend offered.

_Valentine residence_

Freddie walked Cat to the front door; she turned and pulled him into a sweet kiss.

"That was a great day," she whispered happily, stealing another kiss before they stepped apart.

"Good night, Cat, I'll see you tomorrow," he smiled.

"'Night Freddie," she smiled, swooping in for one last kiss before heading inside; he watched her go with a smile before turning back to the car with a spring in his step.

* * *

**AN: And we're done; I hope you enjoyed it. Feel free to let me know one way or the other via the review box and I hope to see you soon for the next chapter. PD.**


	20. Chapter 20: Happy Birthday Sweet Sixteen

**AN: Hi everyone and welcome to this chapter; I hope you are all well. As always I'll start by giving my thanks to those of you who read and reviewed the last chapter.**

**Challenge King – I'm glad that you enjoyed it and enjoyed their little date.**

**Darck Ben – I did my interpretation of why Jade doesn't want to go in the ocean; it could be completely wrong but I like the idea of her having her vulnerabilities and insecurities under her tough exterior.**

**Fanfic-Reader-88 – they spent their afternoon together because they wanted to. They got distracted, leading to the others being alone for hours, but Freddie wasn't just going to abandon Cat, particularly with a group of teenage guys there. You would expect the trip to be an all-day thing; we don't know how long they had been gone before the kids realised they weren't there anymore.**

**OneHorseShay – yes they wanted a little fun and they do deserve it after all that they have been through over the last year or so. As for eye candy, the entire show has 'Trina blinders', commenting on Jade in front of Beck would have been inappropriate and André seems to have friend-zoned Tori. It may have been self-preservation on Robbie's part as a hot, fraught Tori would probably swing on him. As for Freddie helping Jade take tentative steps back into the ocean, maybe but again it goes back to what I said to Darck Ben about her inner vulnerabilities.**

**Agent-M – Thanks, I'm glad you liked it. As for their conversation, that will be an on-going subplot that may last for a little while yet.**

**Pbow – I don't know how easy it is to remove bullet-proof windows but the ceiling vent may well have been a better option, especially with enough people around to lift one of them up to the ceiling. As for the phone signal, or lack thereof, it sounds like it was network related but yes it is odd that somewhere like that wouldn't have reception these days.**

**That's everyone so let's move on with the story.**

* * *

Chapter 20: Happy Birthday Sweet Sixteen.

_Black Box Theatre, Hollywood Arts High School, Los Angeles, California_

_Monday, 21__st__ June 2010_.

Freddie closed his eyes as his lips softly met Tori's; it was a tender kiss that both teens brought some of the required passion to. For Tori's part some of this was born of the frustration of missing Steven while he was still up in Seattle; on Freddie's side he smirked internally at the idea that it didn't take much acting to generate a little passion with such an attractive co-star. It was no slight on Cat, of course, nor would be his kiss with Jade in a couple of days' time; it was acting, no more and no less – but he wasn't going to deny himself a little fun while he was doing his final performances of the year. Like last year there were a number of plays that had been put on as a 'final exam' for the kids' acting and performing classes. _Un_like last year they now had no choice over what to appear in, or who with; the decision was taken by their teachers. So, despite being forewarned, the group were surprised when they were handed their assignments – and given such short deadlines to learn their parts. Fortunately they didn't have any tests from their other subjects today but revision for tomorrow's papers went out of the window when they realised that they would have to spend an appreciable chunk of the day learning their lines for today's performance – and Wednesday's.

Those not involved in the play had taken a little time off from their own studies to provide moral support; Cat sat in the audience smiling as she enjoyed her friends' performances – even if part of it was her boyfriend kissing another girl, she knew that _this_ time it was simply a part of the performance, much like her own with Beck was during the movie they shot (and the one that same pair would share in tomorrow's play).

Jade, meanwhile, felt that she had drawn the short straw; she would be paired with _Robbie_ (the thought almost nauseated her) for their play tomorrow, though she consoled herself with the thought that she had better luck in that she starred opposite Freddie the following evening.

"I love you," Tori's whispers, as she pulled her face away from the brown-haired teen but stayed held in his arms, brought the musing teens' focus back to the stage; Cat looked up from her own script and brushed a few strands of vivid red hair from in front of her eyes as she watched the action unfold.

"I love you too," Freddie replied softly and tenderly. The lighting dimmed, signalling the end of the play; Sikowitz led the applause and the two main stars looked a little embarrassed at the enthusiastic reception they received.

"Tori, Freddie, very well done," the eccentric teacher praised them, "you too Eli, Jess and Darren," he congratulated the rest of the small cast.

The brown-eyed tech producer let out a sigh of relief as he smiled around at his co-stars; it had been an understandably small script given the short preparation time and he thought they had all coped (Eli had improvised one or two lines, he thought, _either that or _I_ forgot what they really were_) but they had managed to get through it and he would at least have about 48 hours to learn the lines of his next play, along with the rest of his revision. The half-Latina singer, meanwhile, would have an extra day to do _her_ preparation as she had been cast in one of Thursday's performances.

The theatre was almost empty by the time the cast had changed back into their usual clothes; Cat had stayed behind to congratulate her boyfriend, and Tori, before they left.

"So are you heading straight home?" she asked him after giving him a quick hug and a kiss.

"I was actually going to stay here for another hour or so," he explained, "I have work at five so I figured I'd just head to the library and study for a while and then go straight there after. Will you be along or will your mom pick up her computer?" he asked his girl.

"Uh, probably mom will, I need to study for science tomorrow," she told him.

"Ok, well I'll come over after work and we can study together for a couple of hours?"

"You mean make out for a couple of hours?" Tori grinned at them.

"We'll control ourselves… maybe," he told her with a laugh.

_West residence, Hollywood Hills_

"So, _why_ are we here again?" Beck muttered; he was always happy to spend time with his girl but he was unsure as to why they were spending it _here_, in the den of her mother's house, rather than in the seclusion that his trailer afforded them.

"Beck," Jade began, "we spent almost all of yesterday trapped in your RV, getting _very_ hot while we were there. I just want to put some distance between myself and that memory before I go back there, ok?"

The long-haired teen gave her a questioning look; he was surprised that it had troubled her to such an extent as he had simply aired it out a little after returning it to his parents' driveway and slept in it as usual last night.

"We'd get a lot more privacy there though," he pointed out amiably.

"_I don't want to go there_," she hissed; from the next room her mother gave a curious and suspicious look in their direction.

He leaned in to give her a placating kiss; the look on her face suggested that he had only been partially successful with it but she accepted the affection anyway before pulling her text book onto her lap.

"We need to study," she declared with a tone of finality; he sighed but picked up his own book and they began to do their work.

_Valentine residence_

A short distance across town the need to study seemed a little lost on the other teenage couple. True to his word Freddie had come over after finishing his shift (Mrs Valentine had collected her newly repaired machine earlier in the evening) and the teens sat alone on the couch in the living room. Their books were open but unexamined as the two kissed softly; Cat's script for her play tomorrow was now a few pieces of crumpled paper, strewn about the area.

"So," Freddie asked with a glint in his eye as they briefly separated, "do you think you're ok for the kiss scene at the end of your play?"

"I dunno," his girlfriend adopted a mock-worried expression, "I think I could do with a little more practice," before giving him a melting, puppy-dog-eyed look.

"Well it _would_ be a shame if you failed the class because of it," he made a show of reasoning, "and it would affect Beck too."

"Yes, we can't let our friends down!" she almost growled as she pressed her body against his again and reclaimed his lips for a somewhat more heated and frenzied kiss than usual; it left them both breathless at the end.

"Hi kids, are you alright?" Mrs Valentine came downstairs just as they had parted, taking in, with some amusement, the flustered and slightly dishevelled appearance of her daughter and her boyfriend.

"Uh yeah mom, we're fine," the red-headed girl insisted.

"How's the study coming along?" she asked with a teasing smirk, suspecting that not too much had been done given the look of the two of them and the room in general.

"I think we should maybe look at science for now," Freddie told his girl, taking the hint and also being well aware of how much work the girl needed to do to make sure that she passed, "since that's in the morning. We can do a little bit for maths over lunch right before the test and then tomorrow night maybe the stuff for theatre class?"

"Sounds good," Cat replied weakly, thinking that the science part _didn't_ really sound too good to her.

"I know they're not your favourites," Freddie squeezed her bare thigh gently as he seemingly read the girl's mind, "but you _need_ to do them, and pass them, so we need to study."

"I know," she conceded in disappointment and resignation and the pair gathered up their books and began to work.

"How about…" he began, after almost half-an-hour in which the girl was struggling to make headway.

"We take a break?" she interrupted brightly, "Ok!"

"No," he caught her hands in an attempt to gently restrain and settle her, "but you could maybe earn a little 'reward'," he flashed a telling grin, "for every right answer. Just a little incentive," he shrugged.

"I like the sound of that," his girl happily redoubled her efforts and soon earned her first reward from her boyfriend's lips.

_Benson residence_

"Freddie! You're home later than I expected!"

"Mom, what are you still doing up; you have the early shift tomorrow," her son pointed out.

"I just wanted to see how your day was and how the tests went."

"Well I only had one, an acting one, today so I had all day to prepare for it and it went pretty well; I was working with Tori, Eli and a couple of the others on it and Sikowitz thought that we all did well."

"Well that's good to hear. Are you all set for tomorrow's?"

"Yes, mom, Cat and I have been studying for science; that's why I'm late, we got through a lot of it," he omitted the _other_ reason that he had been there so long; Marissa could guess though and nodded suspiciously.

"Well make sure you get plenty of rest since you have two tests tomorrow," she warned him.

"I will, mom, in fact I'll go to bed now," he replied pleasantly, giving her a goodnight kiss on the cheek as he passed her and headed upstairs; she shook her head as he departed, smiling a little at the boy's happiness – even though she still wasn't _really_ sure about Cat. She thought on her son's demeanour and pulled a slightly concerned expression.

_Asphalt Café, Hollywood Arts High School_

_Friday, 25__th__ June 2010_.

It was the final day of the school year and the sophomore class were eagerly looking forward to their summer break. Tests seemed to have gone pretty well for them (Cat was amazed by how much she had been able to remember of the work she and Freddie had done the previous night; he suggested that they had found a way of getting her to remember the stuff that actually worked). The short plays had almost all been performed; those that had been were well received and now conversation could turn to an altogether more pleasant subject.

"So, what are everyone's plans for the summer?" Tori asked; she and her family were going to spend the following week in Cancun and possibly have another break before school came back.

"We have to go to Idaho to visit my brother," Cat informed her.

"How long will you be up there for?" Jade asked her best friend.

"Well, we go on July 1st and we'll be there for about two weeks."

"Freddie? Any plans?"

"Uh, well mom and I will have to base anything around her time off from the hospital; I guess we'll head back up to Seattle for a bit to see some of our old friends there and maybe to the east coast as well to see some family. I might just take a few extra shifts at work, though, especially while Cat's away, and earn some more cash. I'll probably hit the gym a bit more regularly as well."

"Good plan," Tori squeezed his bicep playfully and he shot her a quick grin; Cat scowled a little into her bottle of water. "Beck?"

"We're going up to Canada to visit family."

"Are you going with them?" the brunette asked Jade.

"No," she replied flatly, stabbing her salad with increased vigour; Tori looked to the girl's long-haired boyfriend for an explanation.

"They uh… they'd rather she didn't come up," he muttered with a rare look of embarrassment on his face.

"They _hate_ me," the gothic teen snapped.

"I'm sure that's not true…" the half-Latina began.

"Oh it is," Beck contradicted her. "They still haven't forgotten about our Thanksgiving last year," he shot the girl a look.

"Is this about your dad and your cousin?" Freddie asked, wondering why that would be an issue when only the Oliver parents were actually there.

"No, _Canadian_ Thanksgiving," the actor elaborated, "we celebrate it a couple of months earlier. Jade… "

"They asked me to say grace; they didn't like the way I said it," she shrugged, grinning a little at the memory in spite of the consequences it had caused.

"Yeah, it got you un-invited from pretty much anything my family will ever do in the future," he told her.

"How bad was it?" Cat asked.

"Have you ever seen your whole family cry?" Beck enquired of her.

"Well, one time my brother…" she began before the bell sounded; the teens around the table heaved a collective sigh of relief.

"So, anyway, what's the plan for tomorrow?" Jade asked as she fell into step with Freddie and Cat.

"I've switched my days at work so I'm working Sunday instead of tomorrow," the boy began, "which means that I can give my girl a wonderful birthday," he wrapped his arm around the red-head's shoulders and she giggled and smiled as she rested her head against him.

"Sounds great. And the party's at six?" the green-streak haired girl sought to confirm.

"Yeah, that's when my mom and dad want people to start arriving; probably food won't be until around seven though."

"Great, well I'll make sure Beck and I are there by six-thirty then; I think he's working until at least five so it might take him a while to get ready afterwards."

"Are you hanging around for the afternoon?" Freddie asked the girls, knowing that neither of them had any more tests or performances.

"I will be, I need to be here for Beck's play tonight," Jade noted.

"I'm not sure how long I'm staying," Cat added.

"Well how about we hit the rec room for one last time before the summer," he suggested; the girls nodded their agreement as he continued, "then we can decide whether to stay for the play," he addressed Cat, "or not. If _I_ do then I'm going to struggle to make it to work on time so I may have to skip it – or sneak out before the end."

"He'll understand," the dark-haired girl observed reasonably.

"You _really_ got banned from any of his family gatherings?" he grinned at the mean girl; she gave a slightly embarrassed smile in return.

_Benson residence_

_Saturday, 26__th__ June 2010_.

"I'm still not happy about all this Freddie," Marissa began as he finished his breakfast.

"Mom, it's my _girlfriend's birthday_; you can't expect me to not spend it with her."

"I know but missing work for it?"

"I'm not missing work, I'm working tomorrow instead," he explained for the tenth time.

"On a Sunday? I didn't think you were serious about working a Sunday!"

"Mom," he countered with admirable patience, "_you_ work some Sundays."

"I don't have a choice; it's the shift patterns. People don't stop getting sick just because it's the weekend. You have a choice and you shouldn't be working on a Sunday."

"Mom," he sighed, "it's one time and for Cat's birthday. It's already arranged. I've got to go, I'll be back after her party finishes and see you tonight if you're still awake by then." He leaned over to kiss his mother's cheek before leaving the house.

_Valentine residence_

"Hey, hey, happy birthday," Freddie called as he entered his girlfriend's house and greeted her with a kiss. "Are you ready to hit the mall?"

"Almost," she replied, "but first I thought that you could help me shoot a new film for _The Slap_. Did you bring what I asked for."

"I did, so sure," he shrugged, "no problem," he handed her the article she'd requested. In truth he was slightly relieved, given that she was dressed down in a grey hooded top and pale blue jeans; he was expecting her to dress a little more smartly for her birthday treats ahead.

"'kay 'kay, the camera's all set up in my room," she took his hand and led him upstairs; Freddie traded looks with the Valentine parents as he went and they sniggered at his confused discomfort.

Cat flopped onto her bed and groaned loudly as he filmed; she then sat up, leaning against the bed and made a few more random noises. Lastly she stood up and squealed.

"Ok, you can edit those three together," she grinned as she prepared for the main part of her new clip; Freddie just shrugged, figuring that she was doing all of this for a reason (though for the life of him he couldn't fathom what it was).

She sat back on her bed and faced the camera. "I just made silly noises into the camera because I decided that's how I should start this video," she explained before leaning into the camera. "Oodle, oodle, oodle, oodle!"

Again she was sat by the side of her bed. "Imagine if you filled an entire swimming pool with grapes and then you put on a bathing suit and just jumped into the pool and landed in like a big belly-flop on all those poor little grapes. Let's imagine that together," she closed her eyes. Behind the camera Freddie did too, desperately trying to control his laughter so as not to shake the camera; she opened her eyes a couple of seconds later and called "cut."

"Cat, this is _insane_," Freddie pointed out, "hilarious – but insane," he grinned.

"I know," she laughed, crawling over to give him a quick kiss before setting up the next scene.

"If you have two tomatoes," the girl held them towards the camera, "and they're like _really_ tired, they can take a nap in…"

"I'm really not sure about this," the cameraman told her weakly as she headed to her dresser to gather a prop. The girl ignored him and set up the item at the bottom of her bed.

"A HAMMOCK BRA!" she declared as the camera began rolling again; she had strung one of her bras across an old frame, tying it in place at each end. She began giggling loudly at the idea. "I made this! Time for your nap, tomatoes," she laughed again as she set one in each cup and watched them hanging there. "I will now sing the tomatoes a sweet lullaby," she told her audience. "_Go to sleep, go to sleep, Mr and Mrs Tomato, take a nap, in your hammock bra_…"

For her next clip she needed the item she had borrowed; it was one of Freddie's _Galaxy Wars_ replica communication devices. "Hey," she announced, having switched it on, "this is Cat – I mean Lieutenant Valentine," and she laughed again. "What are you doing, you know, on the… spaceship?" She shook the device and it emitted a high-pitched beep, causing her to dissolve into yet more giggles.

"Cat, Cat, settle down," he urged her as he put the camera to one side and tried to calm the giddy girl; he was slightly concerned that in her exuberance she would manage to break his collectable. It was a few minutes before Freddie had relaxed her sufficiently that they could get ready for the next scene, which again involved the communicator.

"Hey, Mr Spock," she began, "you are _so_ Vulcan weird…" she snapped it shut and burst out laughing again as she realised what she had said, and what it sounded a little bit like. Eventually she stopped laughing and was able to continue.

"Ok, don't freak out but it's me again," she spoke into the device once again, "umm I want you to umm beam me up," she giggled again before closing the prop and facing the camera. "Ok, I'm going to do a special thing now. "Wooo," she said as she jiggled on the spot.

"And we're clear," Freddie grinned as he repeated his traditional sign-off from iCarly, "I'll do a bit of techno-wizardry on the end and have you fade out of it. Oh," he motioned for the girl to move out of the way and got a few seconds of footage of the wall of the room without the girl there. "That'll make it easier to blend from one to the other," he told her.

"Great, I can't wait until it's done," she said excitedly.

"Well I don't think we'll have time today with all the plans for your birthday," he told her reasonably.

"Oh yay, birthday plans," she grinned, all thoughts of the video instantly vanished from her mind.

"I'll give you a few minutes to get changed and meet you downstairs?" he suggested.

"'kay 'kay," she called as he exited the room, still wondering if it was such a good idea that she was showing off her bras in front of him.

* * *

"I thought we were going to the mall," she pointed out as they set out in a different direction.

"We are, later," he smiled, refusing to go into any more detail.

"Ooh a surprise!" she shouted; he rubbed his ear, hoping that she hadn't deafened him with her enthusiasm.

_Sherman Oaks Castle Park _

_4989 Sepulveda Blvd, Sherman Oaks, CA_

The birthday girl squealed loudly as they approached the course. "Baby golf!" she cried happily; Freddie smiled at her reaction.

Her face fell a little for a moment. "I didn't bring my special putter," she pouted.

"Look on the back seat," he suggested; she turned to see her pink putter lying across the seat and squealed again.

"I feel like you planned all of this," she commented before furnishing him with a broad smile, nudging his arm playfully; he nodded his head with a grin as they turned into the car park.

Despite it being the girl's birthday Freddie was unable to contrive a way for her to win; she still had her habit of swinging, barely catching the ball (or sending it off in an unwanted direction) followed by a loud giggle. Again he tried to help and 'guide' her, holding her arms from behind her and helping her aim; again she used it as an excuse to lean back into his arms, treating it more as a cuddle than him trying to help her. Freddie didn't mind at all.

It was another comfortable win for the boy (not that they _seriously _competed, but they did record their scores on the cards that they were given) but the birthday girl thoroughly enjoyed herself; something she made a point to tell him as they returned to his car, pulling him into a kiss before they got in.

"Thank you Freddie, I had a lot of fun," she told him, brushing a few stray strands of hair from her face as she did so.

"You're welcome; I want to make this birthday a really special, memorable day for you," he told her sincerely, cupping her cheek and stroking it gently with his thumb as he looked deep into her brown eyes; getting lost in them he tilted his face slightly and leaned in to capture her lips passionately. The red-headed girl eagerly threw her arms around him and intensified the kiss, for the first time opening her mouth slightly and sucking on his bottom lip.

Taking his cue from her he put into practice some of the techniques he'd learned previously, trying to push from his mind that he'd learned them from Lindsey (as he really didn't want to think too much about her at a time like this) and instead focussing solely on the beautiful girl he was currently with, mingling passion and tenderness as he put his heart into the kisses.

"Wow," she whispered as they pulled apart, "I've never had a kiss like that before."

"I hope you enjoyed it," he grinned wickedly at her.

"I definitely did," she agreed, leaning in for another peck before they got into his car.

_Green Meadow Mall_

_6801 Hollywood Blvd, Los Angeles, CA_

"Alright, here we are," Freddie smiled, leading his girl by the hand; she was surprised that they didn't go for a smoothie, which was her usual first port of call when arriving at the mall, but instead headed elsewhere; she smiled widely when they reached their destination.

"Order for Benson?" the proprietor confirmed.

"Yes, thank you," Freddie handed him some bills and took the tray from him. "Sixteen red-velvet cupcakes," he confirmed with a knowing look to the obsessed teen.

"Yay, lunch," she cried happily and picked one off the tray, sighing contentedly as she took her first bite.

"Cat, you can't eat _all_ of them for lunch," he pointed out in a patient yet amused voice.

"Aww," she sounded disappointed at his complaint. "I'll let you have one," she bargained.

"Cat, your parents are putting on a birthday dinner for you tonight, you don't want to eat too much," he reminded her. "Besides, you can savour them for a while if you don't eat them all at once."

"I guess," she shrugged, far from convinced by his argument.

"Anyway, we need to run if we're going to make the showing of the movie." Freddie had bought tickets for a new rom-com that Cat wanted to see; the tech genius would rather _not_ have seen it but he knew that she wanted to and, as it was her birthday, he had decided that they would see it. Within minutes of it starting he was bored and sank back in his seat, something not lost on his girlfriend; she began stealing kisses and soon they were making out in the dark cinema, the film long forgotten.

"Thank you," he said as they left the cinema hand-in-hand, "I know you wanted to see it."

"I did and I liked it," she insisted, "but it was more fun to be spending the time with you. I managed to follow what was happening, more or less, but I liked the kissing more," she admitted with a mischievous smile and a flutter of her eyelashes.

"You want to get a snack while we're passing the Food Court?" he asked, "or are you still full of cupcakes?" The girl had already demolished three of the treats.

"I'm good," she grinned.

"I might just get a quick burger then," he commented, leading her over to one of the outlets and ordering the snack.

"Oh, and some fries," his girl added; he shot her a slightly disbelieving look and she just smirked back at him, wrinkling her nose in the way he always found adorable. He just shrugged and handed over the appropriate amount of money to the vendor; they took over a table at the side of the Court and ate a quick lunch.

"So where next?" she asked curiously as he led her from the area.

"Well there's _Toys For You_ just up there," he gestured down the corridor, "so I thought you might want to pick out a little present for yourself."

"I thought all this was my present," she was confused at the thought of getting something extra.

"It is," he confirmed, "and though the memories should be good and you'll enjoy the rest of the cupcakes, don't you want a little something to keep forever as a reminder of today?"

"Yeah," she agreed, "like my little animal that you got me two years ago."

"Just like that," he echoed with a smile.

Half an hour later they left the mall; Cat carried a small, plush tiger under her arm.

"Have you got a name for him?"

"Not yet, I'll have to think on that," she told him. "Thank you Freddie, it's been a great day."

"It's not over yet," he told her. "We still have a couple of hours before you need to get ready for your party."

"Where are we going?"

"You'll see," he smiled before squirming and trying to bat her hands away with his right. "Cat! Don't tickle me while I'm driving," he protested, trying to keep the wheel steady as they left the car park. She pouted but relented.

_Marco Marco_

_1641 N Las Palmas Ave_

"Oh wow," she gasped as they entered the building, "look at all the costumes!"

"I know. I remember you said that you really want to take the costume design class next year so I figured we'd come here and see if you can get a couple of good ideas."

He allowed his girl to lose herself in the room, checking out a huge number of costumes that were on display while he looked at a couple himself and struck up a conversation with one of the sales assistants, herself a former Hollywood Arts student who was learning under 'the Master' and hoped to have some of her own designs on sale soon. The short teen, meanwhile, was making mental notes as she traversed the store, picking up tips that she could use in her class.

"We need to head off now," Freddie tapped Cat on the shoulder, pulling her from her reverie.

"Oh, 'kay 'kay," she sounded disappointed that their time was up but she allowed him to take her hand and lead her from the store. "I'm coming back here," she told him as they departed.

_Valentine residence_

The young couple returned to her home shortly before five p.m. Cat headed straight up to her room to begin getting ready while Freddie offered his services to the Valentine parents.

"No thank you Freddie, it's all under control," Mrs Valentine declined his assistance with preparing things.

"Just take a seat in the living room and have a drink, it must have been a hectic day spending all of it with Cat," her father grinned.

Freddie returned the grin with one of his own to confirm the man's supposition.

"Thank you sir, I'll have a drink and then get changed; I brought something for this evening."

"Sure, you can use my son's old room," Mr Valentine offered.

"How is he?" Freddie asked. "Cat doesn't say too much about how he is now, though she has _a lot_ of anecdotes about his past."

Cat's father gave a tired sigh. "He's improving, that's about all we can say right now. Whether we _ever_ really get our boy back I don't know – and I have to say I doubt it – but he's doing better there than he was here so that's a good thing. We'll see him next week and hopefully it will be ok."

Freddie nodded awkwardly; Mr Valentine cleared his throat and muttered, "If you'll excuse me…" before heading back to the kitchen to join his wife.

* * *

Tori and André arrived shortly after six; the birthday girl greeted them at the door and invited them in before returning to her boyfriend's lap, reclining against him and enjoying the feel of his strong arm around her waist. Trina, the younger sister explained, had decided that she had plans (though she had been very non-specific when pressed) and so would not be attending. The little redhead was a bit disappointed by this but put it out of her mind when she got talking to those who _were_ present.

"So how has your day been so far?" the brunette singer asked.

"Oh it's been awesome," the newly-turned sixteen-year-old gushed and began talking about all the things that she and her boyfriend had done during the day and how much she had enjoyed them all, especially the golf and the huge tray of cupcakes.

"Are there any left?" Tori teased, knowing the girl's fondness for them.

"Some," she smiled sheepishly.

"_Most_ of them are," Freddie corrected, "I snuck some of them out of the box to keep them safe for later," he admitted to his girl.

"Well that explains where they all went!" she exclaimed before adding with a grin, "I thought I must have eaten them without realising it."  
"That wouldn't have surprised me either," he joked.

Just after six-thirty Eli, Robbie (and Rex) joined the gathering, then Jade arrived, along with Beck, and the party began in earnest; the harried parents finished off preparing the food and sat down with the teenagers to eat.

"Chicken leg?" Freddie offered his girl; she snatched one up eagerly and bit into it. Jade selected a slice of pizza to begin with while Robbie began distributing cups of punch to the rest of the group.

"Thank you," Tori accepted her cup and began to study the table to select an item. "This all looks so good, Mr and Mrs Valentine," she enthused to their happiness and they smiled at the girl.

After the plates were emptied the cake was brought in, resplendent with pink icing and topped with sixteen candles surrounding a centrepiece of yet another red velvet cupcake. The Valentines' daughter gasped in shock and delight as her father brought it through and set it down in front of her; as she was urged to make a wish she cast a sly sideways glance at her boyfriend before closing her eyes and blowing out the candles in a couple of uncharacteristically deep breaths before embracing her mother and father happily. The cake was sliced and distributed; the teens all seemed to enjoy it, even if it was a little too sweet for Jade's personal tastes.

Dinner completed, the parents retreated upstairs, fearing the chaos and carnage that could ensue when their daughter started dancing.

"_Please_ try and make sure the house doesn't get destroyed," they urged Freddie.

"I'll do my best," he assured them.

The birthday girl switched the stereo on and the party moved into full swing; the girls sang along to some of them, something that impressed the boys immensely. Once they had had enough of dancing Cat dashed upstairs and brought down her pear box along with a few games. Tori excelled on the tennis game (she had plenty of experience playing with and against Trina on a similar game) while Freddie and Beck mastered the shooters; their reflexes and agility had been honed by the hours spent in the fencing studio.

Around eleven p.m. things began to wind down; Beck took himself and Jade home, Eli left and André drove Robbie and Tori home, leaving Freddie to say goodnight to his girlfriend before his mother began to complain _too_ much.

"So how was your day?" he asked from the doorway as she was letting him out.

"I loved it; all of it," she enthused. "Thank you Freddie, this was the best birthday I've ever had," she smiled and kissed him tenderly.

"Good night Cat – and happy birthday," he whispered and left with a wave and a smile.

* * *

**AN: Thank you for reading; I hope you enjoyed it. Please feel free to let me know and I hope you all come back for the next chapter soon. PD.**


	21. Chapter 21: iParty With Freddie

**AN: Hello everyone and welcome to the latest part of this tale; I hope you are all well and enjoying your weekend. I would like to start, as always, by thanking everyone who read and reviewed the last chapter.**

**Challenge King – thank you and I really hope that you will enjoy reading this chapter.**

**Fanfic-Reader-88 – me, sneaking in a little bit of Teddie? Yeah, guilty as charged. As for what Jade said, I'm not sure; it was mentioned on The Slap in some Thanksgiving dos and don'ts; her exact words weren't published though.**

**Darck Ben – thanks. As for the cross-over; it's on the to-do list so hopefully I can get around to it eventually.**

**Agent M – thanks and what we talked about – it's going to be an on-going part of the subplot for a little while.**

**I believe One Horse Shay will be updating his excellent **_**We Love Each Other**_** soon, so be sure to check that out once he does.**

* * *

Chapter 21: iParty With Freddie and the Gang

_Benson residence, Hollywood Hills, Los Angeles, CA_

_Wednesday, 1__st__ September 2010_.

"So you two are catching a movie soon?" Freddie asked as he eyed the couple sat on his couch.

"Yeah, do you two want to join us?" Steven asked generously; he had only just returned from Seattle that morning and was obviously eager to spend time with his girlfriend, Tori, but both suggested that they would be happy enough for Cat and Freddie to turn it into a double-date.

"I can't," he replied regretfully, "I have to head to work in a few minutes. Cat and I might do something when I get off; maybe some 'baby golf'," the girl's eyes lit up at the term, Tori's rolled a little even though she found it cute that he used the red velvet-haired girl's term for one of her favourite pastimes, "or try and catch a late movie or something but I won't be able to go along with you this afternoon."

"Well come on then Carson," Tori stood up and pulled the boy to his feet, "we need to get going if we're going to be there in time for the showing."

"Ok Vega," he grinned back at her, "let's get going." They headed out, waving at their friends as they left.

"So Steven's last name is Carson; you learn something new every day," the brown-haired teen observed.

"I'm confused; why does it matter what his last name is?" Cat asked.

"I just think it's quite a coincidence, don't you? Carly and Tori are both dating a guy named Steven who spends a month in Seattle and then one in Los Angeles and both boys come and go on the first of the month."

"So you think…" the red-head began.

"That they're one and the same guy? I have my suspicions," the tech genius admitted, "but I don't have any _proof_. _If_ I could find out from Carly that _her_ Steven's last name is Carson as well then I'd be a little closer to some hard evidence that he's playing them both."

"How are you going to get it?"

"Talk to Carly and Spencer," he replied simply.

"When?" his girlfriend asked curiously.

"Well, if you've no plans for when I get off from work then I could come over to yours and we could talk to her from there? I could always call Spencer at some point; we've been chatting regularly ever since I went up to see them after she got knocked down early on this year."

"Oh, ok. That sounds good. I have no plans, apart from wanting to make out some more," she added with a grin.

"I'd best come over then so you don't find someone else," he grinned wickedly.

"WHAT'S THAT SUPPOSED TO MEAN? I'd never do that!" she sounded genuinely hurt at the suggestion; he placated her with a quick kiss.

"I know, Cat, I was kidding. I know you wouldn't cheat on me."

"Oh, well that's ok then," she grinned, pulling him in for another tender kiss.

"As fun as this is… I do need to get to work. Do you want me to drive you home on the way?"

"Yes please."

Freddie dropped his girl off at her home and continued the short drive to the Pear Store; as he drove he reflected on the events of the summer. He had spent an enjoyable week up in Seattle and had seen the Shay siblings, hanging with Carly in a completely relaxed environment; oh so different, he noted, to the way it had always been when he had been crushing on her as a younger boy. For some strange reason he felt that he could detect some disappointment within her that he wasn't trying to flirt with her or express his undying love but he shrugged it off and put it down to her missing her Steven while he was in LA.

His time spent alone with Spencer had been different but more productive; the two continued to talk about the ramifications of his relationship with Lindsey and he felt that it was helping him to continue to work through the pain and resentment of what had happened between them. Not thinking that it was an issue, he hadn't mentioned to the older sibling his (non-)reaction to Sam's beat down on Lindsey or his similar apathy to Dale Squires' humiliation on live television; it was something that continued to concern Jade (she and Cat had talked about it on occasion when they hung together alone).

Cat herself had spent the first couple of weeks of the summer up in Idaho; her brother was continuing to respond to the treatment he was receiving but the night he had been allowed to spend with his family in their hotel had illustrated that he was nowhere near rehabilitated or ready for more permanent life in the outside world. The Valentines had been relieved that no damage was done to the hotel but the boy waking up screaming and still clearly disturbed demonstrated that more work was needed in the hospital; they felt that it might take another eighteen months or so before the treatment was fully effective – and even then they couldn't _guarantee_ long-term success. It was a worrying time for the Valentine parents; they did their best to keep their worries from their daughter.

In spite of her bravado Jade had really missed Beck while he and his family had been on holiday without her; she had enjoyed a little time away with her mother but it did bother her that she seemed to have burned her bridges so conclusively already with much of her boyfriend's family. Not for the first time, while sitting at home missing her man, she wondered whether her actions the previous October had been worth it (though a large part of her still felt that they _had_ been, she reflected with an unapologetic grin). She and Freddie had both enjoyed the time that they had hung together while their significant others were both away; Jade had used the opportunity to ask Freddie about his apathy towards Squires but he had dismissed her concerns with a shrug, simply opining that the guy deserved what he got for his actions.

"_Did he ever actually apologise to us?_" _Freddie asked her. _"_Did he change the credits on the video on Splash Face? How about his appearance on the show that's been put on that site? Do you think _anybody_ watches him give us credit? His beating by Kendra has gone viral but nobody cares about him giving us any credit. So no, I don't feel sorry for him at all_."

Jade was forced to concede these points to him. Not wanting a fight with one of the few people she _really_ cared about and who accepted her unconditionally, she held her tongue for the most part, though she still had her concerns about her friend's state of mind. She did try to probe him on how he felt about Lindsey these days; Freddie may not have wanted to talk about it but Jade claimed that she was acting in her capacity as Cat's best friend; she wanted to be sure that he was comfortable being in a relationship after what had happened in the past. He assured her that was so she dropped it – for the time being.

The former Seattle native's main regret from the summer was that he had been unable to arrange a time to hang with Sam; she had been stuck in Las Vegas with her mother and the Puckett matriarch's 'latest loser' as the blonde dubbed the guy. She expressed hope that she may be able to get down the following weekend; Freddie suggested that she just sneak out, Sam countered with concern that the new couple were talking about moving on and she might wind up homeless. Despite her grudging acceptance that Freddie was growing up, he feared that Marissa would draw the line at Sam moving in with them permanently.

He had an additional reason for wanting his friend to show the following weekend; André had given him some great news at the gym the previous night.

"You know how my uncle's a Real Estate agent?"

"Yeah," Freddie began slowly as he ended his set and the dreadlocked teen locked the weights, allowing him to get up from the machine and them to switch places.

"Well he sold a house yesterday – to _Kenan Thompson_."

"No way," Freddie smiled. "Did you get to meet him?" He knew that the songsmith had been working a few hours with his uncle over the summer in addition to his weekend shifts at _Yotally Togurt_.

"I did – and get this; he says I can use his house to have a small party next weekend!"

"That's beyond awesome; a back-to-school party," Freddie observed.

"Uh huh," the other teen smiled. "So spread the word, but not too much. He said a _small_ party."

Freddie grinned malevolently as the cogs turned in his mind on his drive to work; if he could _prove_ that Steven was a lousy, cheating, two-timing skunkbag, what better way of snaring him than having Tori _and_ Carly confront him at the party… maybe Sam and her trusty butter sock could pay a visit too.

But to do that, he'd first need to make sure that the girls' boyfriends _were_ one and the same person; he hoped to move a step closer to that tonight.

_Valentine residence_

"Sweetie, Freddie's here," Mrs Valentine called as she admitted the teenager to her family's home.

"Hi-iii," she raced downstairs and leapt eagerly into his arms; fortunately he was able to brace himself and catch the feather-light teen comfortably as she wrapped herself around him.

"I guess you've missed me over the last three hours," he joked before they kissed softly. The Valentine parents shared a contented look at the couple's affection before the boy set his girlfriend down and she took his hand, leading him up to her room.

"Do you think it's time to start telling her to leave the door open?" Mr Valentine asked cautiously.

"Only if _you_ want to have 'the talk' with her," his wife replied.

"Freddie seems responsible; they're good," he conceded hastily.

In the cupcake lover's room the teen had set her pear top on her bed and the two were sat next to one another on it, looking at it. Freddie felt rather uncomfortable sat on a girl's bed, even in such innocent circumstances as these, as his mind kept wandering to that night some sixteen months ago; he did his best to keep his discomfort from the lovely girl leaning against his left hand side.

"Hey Carls, what are you up to?" he asked as the Seattleite dark brunette answered, smiling at them.

"Oh hi Freddie, hey Cat," she greeted them warmly, "not too much. Just seeing what Carly Carson looks like in different fonts."

"Steven's last name is 'Carson'?" Freddie asked in mild horror; his worst fears seemed to be confirmed. Cat was sure that she'd heard that name before somewhere but she couldn't quite place it.

"Yes, how can you not know that? I love him!" the web hostess argued a little shortly.

The three continued to chat a little, catching up on what was going on (though in truth there wasn't too much to report given that both schools were still on summer break and Carly and Freddie had seen one another fairly recently).

"And now, the coup de grace," Freddie commented with a hint of satisfaction after they terminated the chat; he pulled out his pear phone and scrolled through his contacts.

"What do you mean?" his girl asked curiously.

"I'm going to call Spencer for a quick word," he explained.

"Ok, what about?"

He shushed her as the lanky artist answered. "Freddo! What's up?" he greeted him amiably.

"Spence, do you have any photographs of Steven and Carly together?" the teenager asked.

"Uh, he seems to be really camera shy around her for some reason but I did manage to get one of them."

"Can you send me it please?"

"I guess; what's this about?"

"I'll explain once I see it," he promised. Spencer, confused, flicked through his phone while the boy held the line; he sent over a picture of his sister and her boyfriend together and Freddie received it, switching his phone to speaker while he viewed it.

"I thought so," he commented.

"That's Tori's boyfriend!" Cat exclaimed. "What's he doing with Carly?"

"WHAT?" Spencer was shocked.

"Spence… I've suspected for a while now that he was playing them both," Freddie began calmly, "and here's the proof."

"I'm going to rip him apart…" the tall, goofy man-child began uncharacteristically furious.

"Wait," Freddie urged, "I don't have any pictures of him with Tori, he's been as cautious here as he's clearly been up there, so I'm not sure Carly would believe you _or_ me given her infatuation with him but," he set his plan in motion, "we're throwing a party next weekend and Steven's going to be there with Tori; maybe you two could show up as well?" he suggested.

"I can't; I have an art exhibition in Vancouver…" the sculptor began; Freddie offered his congratulations that the man's work was going so well. "I'll put Carls on the phone though; here she is," he made his voice as normal as possible.

"What's the matter? Who's that?" the LA-based teenagers heard the girl's perplexed tone.

"It's Freddie," her brother explained.

"Oh hey, you forget something?" she asked.

"Kind of," the tech producer began. "Carls, we're having a party down here next weekend and I was wondering if you fancied a weekend in LA. I'll talk to mom and see if we can put you up or something."

"That sounds like fun; we're not back at school until the middle of the month, private school and all that," she sounded as nonchalant as she could, "yeah, I'll fly down on the Friday night?"

"That works, I can pick you up after work; I will see you at LAX in just over a week then," Freddie confirmed, grinning at Cat as he anticipated the plan coming to fruition.

_Vega residence_

_Saturday, 4__th__ September 2010_.

Freddie sighed deeply as he pulled his car up at his friend's home, having travelled here straight from a busy day at work. He was glad that he had been busy as he knew that otherwise the issue would have distracted him all day and affected his performance at his job. The teen knew what he had to do but he was extremely reluctant to do it, given how happy his friend had been since she started dating Steven. There was no point putting it off, though, especially as he was due to meet Cat soon; he got out of the Corolla and rang the doorbell.

"It's open!" he heard the singer's voice from inside and cautiously opened the door. Thankfully the only two people present were the Vega sisters; they were playing their tennis game again.

"Hey Freddie," Trina greeted him with a flirtatious smile, setting the controller down. "I want a drink," she told her little sister.

"Then get one," Tori suggested hotly; Trina sighed theatrically and headed for the kitchen. "Oh and pour one each for us while you're there please?" the younger girl called with a grin, drawing a scowl from the family diva.

"Steven's not around?" Freddie asked casually.

"No, I'm seeing him a little later though," the girl smiled excitedly and the knot in the boy's stomach seemed to tighten.

"I've got some bad news," he began quietly; Trina hurried over to see what the hushed tone was all about.

"About?" Tori prompted.

"It's about Steven," he continued. "You know how I'm friends with Carly Shay, right?"

"Yeah," the girls replied in unison.

"Well I got a little suspicious. I mean, the two of you are dating a guy named Steven who moves between Seattle and Los Angeles on the same day and, I found out on Wednesday, both have a last name of 'Carson'."

Trina's face crumpled in horror at the implication; Tori, in full denial, began to babble.

"No, no, that's just coincidence. My Steven would never cheat on me; you're putting two and two together and getting seven Freddie."

"I'm sorry Tori," he placed a hand on her shoulder, "I wish my maths _was_ wrong, but it's not." He pulled the pear phone from his jeans pocket and brought up the picture of Carly and Steven together; Tori's knees gave way as she looked at it. "Her brother Spencer sent me this; it was the final bit of proof that I needed."

"How long have you known?" Trina demanded.

"I've been suspicious for a few months but without any hard evidence."

"And you never said anything?" the older sister's tone was heated.

"Trina, look at her. Five seconds ago she was refusing to believe what I was saying," he explained quietly and reasonably. "If I'd approached her with no proof she wouldn't have believed me, she'd have told Steven and he'd have charmed her into thinking I was a liar for whatever reason I had and I'd have lost the chance to _get_ any proof."

"So now what?" Tori asked in a surprisingly firm voice; much as she was loathe to admit it there was – and a part of her _still_ didn't want to accept what was staring her in the face about her boyfriend – there was too much evidence backing up Freddie's argument for her to have any real, lingering doubts.

"I know it's a huge ask," he sat down next to the half-Latina and slipped a consoling arm around her, "but can you pretend that it's business as usual for the next week? Until André's party? You don't need to see him every day; blow him off, say you're busy, make plans with us and the others or Trina or your parents. Just don't give anything away until the party; Carly's coming down for it and I think we can arrange a little surprise for him."

"Does _she_ know?" Trina asked in a disgusted tone.

"No, you know how reluctant he's been to be photographed with you – and now we know why," Freddie addressed his classmate, "so I've no proof to show her and I doubt she'd believe me any more than _you_ wanted to – particularly with our history, even if I _am_ with Cat now."

Tori nodded. "I'll play along and then next week we'll rip him a new one."

"That's the plan," Freddie grinned.

_Los Angeles International Airport, 1 World Way, Los Angeles_

_Friday, 10__th__ September 2010_.

Freddie smiled as he and Cat sat just beyond the luggage carousels, waiting for the inbound flight from Seattle to land and its passengers to disembark. As he cuddled the red-head he reflected on the previous week and how, much to his surprise, his plan had gone off without a hitch so far. Sam had arrived the previous day; because Carly would be staying at the Bensons and the blonde ex-Seattleite really wasn't sure that she wanted to see her former best friend too much after all this time, she was staying with the Valentines for the few days that she would be here.

Freddie was a little surprised that Sam had agreed to the plan at all; her sympathies with Carly were certainly limited after everything that had happened between the two girls. However the prospect of seeing Freddie and the others (especially he and Cat together and happy), the promise of a killer party and, of course, the chance to wield her trusty butter sock, had encouraged her to show up.

Tori had played along as the still-doting girlfriend whenever Steven was around; the only thing that may have piqued the boy's curiosity (and even then not gone far enough for outright _suspicion_) was her increased willingness to blow him off; he was used to them spending as much time as possible together, given his limited presence in the city.

Steven had actually gone so far as to call Freddie about it earlier in the week.

"_Hey Freddie_," _he had begun, _"_I was just wondering if something was up with Tori._"

"_Uh, not that I know of, why do you ask?_" _he replied casually_.

"_Well it's just that she hasn't wanted to hang too much these last couple of days is all_."_ The cheater kept his tone equally relaxed._

"_Maybe she's just a little busy_. _Did she say what she was doing? Any school stuff she needed to do over the break or maybe she's hanging with some of our other friends?_"

"_No, she was a little vague actually, which is why I was wondering if you knew anything_."

"_Can't help you then dude, sorry_." _He dismissed the request without elaborating, wanting to make sure that he didn't give anything away that would lead to Steven getting an inkling about what was wrong; inspiration hit him though_. "_You'll be at the party with her on Saturday though, right?_"

"_Yeah, and I can't wait,_"_ the other boy's tone brightened instantaneously_. "_It should be one to remember_."

_It sure will be, Freddie thought with a grin_.

"What are you thinking?" Cat asked curiously as she saw her boy smiling while staring into the distance.

"Oh it's a few things," he answered. "Sam's here, which is great, we're going to make Steven pay tomorrow night for what he's done, Carly's coming down and it _is_ nice to see her but most importantly," he looked deep into her brown eyes, "I'm here with you – and I'm _very_ happy about that," he closed the gap between them and kissed her tenderly. She grinned into his affection and turned so that she could wrap her arms around him and deepen the kiss. Freddie stole another from the tip of her nose as they pulled apart for air before cupping her cheek and gently stroking it with his thumb while they smiled at one another.

"Hey!" their mutual trance was broken by a bright, exuberant call; the teenage couple turned to see the short, pale Seattle girl stood a few feet away, a smile fixed on her face and leaning against a comically large suitcase.

"Carly!" Freddie called happily; Cat wriggled off his lap and the two stood up, making their way over to her. The boy pulled his long-time best friend into an eager hug; the two girls chose not to hug, instead contenting themselves with a smile and a few words of greeting, while Cat kept her right arm possessively around her boyfriend. It was a gesture that was not lost on the brunette.

"That's a lot of stuff for a weekend," she observed as Freddie struggled with the newcomer's case.

"Hey, he said there was a party but didn't go into any more detail; I realised I needed quite a few outfits to cover every eventuality."

Freddie rolled his eyes but continued to heave her belongings in the direction of his car while Cat gabbled to their guest.

_Benson residence_

"So, what's the plan for tomorrow?" Carly asked as the trio walked through the door. "Wow, this is a nice place," she admired; although she had seen some of the house in the background of their video chats it was her first visit to Los Angeles and her friend's new home. As she realised this she felt a pang of regret that she hadn't paid him a visit at all over the previous two years since his departure from Seattle.

"Thank you Carly," Marissa's voice carried over from the kitchen where she was stood holding a glass of water. "It's nice to see you," she managed to sound genuine, "Freddie will show you to the guest room."

The two teenage girls followed Freddie, still wielding Carly's bag, up the stairs and down the corridor to the room next door to his own; it was sparsely decorated and had just a single bed but Carly was appreciative of the houseroom and smiled as she looked around.

"It's not much," Freddie conceded, "we don't have too many guests. I think Sam's pretty much the only other person who has ever stayed here."

"Oh, she's visited has she?" Carly asked casually, remembering the blonde as she had been at Ridgeway; despite Freddie's stories she struggled to believe that the girl had changed _that_ much.

"Yeah, mom was a little concerned about the idea of her staying with us at first but she's better about it now; since she never trashed the place… or stole anything," he added with a grin. "She probably _would_ have eaten anything that didn't move but she's not a fan of my mom's cooking," he concluded with a laugh.

Cat giggled and was about to say something when Freddie gave her a subtle, if slightly sharp, nudge to the ribs with his elbow; she gasped but held her tongue as she remembered his words from earlier.

"We'll leave you to settle in; it looks like you've plenty to unpack," he teased, taking his girlfriend's hand and leading her out of the room; Carly looked after them with a slightly sad and uncomfortable expression on her face as she brushed a couple of stray strands of hair to the side of her face. "Oh, the bathroom is next door if you want to freshen up after your flight," he called as an afterthought.

"Sorry Cat," he apologised in a low voice, "but I was worried that you were about to mention that Sam's staying with you right now. I didn't know how Carly would react to knowing that she was here until I'm ready to tell her everything."

"That's ok; I _was_ about to say that she liked my mom's cooking and that my parents can't believe how big her appetite is."

"Few people can; she eats for twelve and never gains a pound," Freddie shook his head, "I don't know how she does it – especially when, by her own admission, she's one of the laziest people on the planet."

"Maybe it's magic," Cat giggled.

"Could be," he smiled back at her; they joined his mother in the living room and sat next to one another on the couch.

"Did you ever say what was happening tomorrow?" Carly asked a little while later as she joined them, having taken an atypically short shower and changed into a simple white top and dark blue jeans.

"Well I'll be working during the day, I have to keep my girl in treats," he smiled at Cat and she laughed sweetly and hugged his arm; Carly worked hard to keep her expression neutral, "you can come along for a bit, kill a little time in the store and maybe meet some of our friends there mid-morning and they can show you around a bit of LA?" he suggested.

"I guess," she was disappointed that she wouldn't actually be spending that much time with Freddie, "will you be there Cat?"

"Not tomorrow, I've got something else to do during the day," she kept it as vague as she could so as not to mention that she and Sam would be spending the day together. Carly nodded again; she was less disappointed about not spending time with Cat as she still felt a little awkward at the prospect of being alone with her, both because she was Freddie's girlfriend and after having helped to engineer their break-up the previous year.

"Right, so what time's the party?"

"Well I get off work by five so I'll get home and we'll probably aim to be at Cat's for six-thirty so that we get there for seven."

"Sounds good," Carly nodded.

"Do you want to do anything tonight or are you tired from the flight?" Cat asked her.

"I'm fine if you guys have plans that I can be part of," she told them eagerly.

"We could head to the mall," Cat suggested to her boy.

"You just want some more cupcakes," he teased her gently.

"Cupcakes?" Carly's attention was garnered.

"Yeah, there's this store where they make really great red-velvet cupcakes. Freddie bought me sixteen for my last birthday," she simpered.

"Well what are we waiting for? Let's go!" Carly shot to her feet. "I just need to get some money," she called after them as she raced upstairs.

"Girls and their cupcakes," Freddie smiled at his mother; the Head Nurse shook her head in resignation.

_Pear Store, 189 The Grove Drive, West Hollywood_

_Saturday, 11__th__ September 2010_.

"You sure you'll be ok here?" Freddie asked as he and his friend walked into the store; Carly looked a little tired (she blamed the sugar rush and crash from the cupcakes she and Cat had demolished the previous night) but nodded blearily before adding,

"I'll be fine," she stifled a yawn behind her hand, "the others will be here soon, we'll have a fun day out and maybe I'll catch a couple of hours of sleep before we go tonight."

"Ok, and if you get bored waiting for them I'll be over there," he gestured to the brilliance bar. "I'll see you this afternoon," he finished quietly and set off across the store. Carly watched him go with a sad smile on her face; she brushed her hair away from her face and feigned interest in some of the products on display around her.

The arrival of a knot of teenagers garnered the girl's attention; she was expecting them and recognised a couple of them from photographs that Freddie had shown her, especially the imposing-looking dark haired girl with vibrant green extensions among her locks. _Jade_, she thought nervously as she cast her mind back to Freddie's warning. _She's Cat's best friend and so she might be a little bit _brusque_ with you because of everything that went on last year. I _would_ tell you that her bark is worse than her bite, but I think her bite is even worse from what I've seen her use on other people_.

The girl felt, however, that there was nothing to be gained from playing dumb, especially as one of the boys, a curly-haired guy holding a puppet, clearly seemed to recognise her. _Of course_, she reasoned, _anyone who watches iCarly will know who I am – especially if they're friends with Freddie_. She took a couple of steps towards the group before being frozen by the stare from the gothic girl; she wiped her suddenly sweaty palms on her jeans and took another tentative step forwards.

"Hi, you must be Jade?"

"Carly Shay," the pale girl commented, folding her arms over her chest and looking the girl up and down.

"Be nice," Beck whispered behind her.

"Why, after she screwed up Cat and Freddie before?" his girl snapped back.

"Oh boy, we're getting right into this," the Seattleite sighed.

"No, we're not," Beck insisted with a tone of finality, "we're going to have a nice day showing _Freddie's friend_ around Los Angeles before we enjoy the party tonight."

"I'm _definitely_ looking forward to part of it," Jade smirked.

"So are we making a move or what?" André asked.

"Oh hey guys," Freddie had slipped away from the Brilliance Bar to greet them. "So what do you have planned?"

"Well…" Robbie began

* * *

The first sight for Carly to enjoy was the walk of fame. Jade found the local Jet Brew, complaining that it was _far too clichéd_ and _something that only tourists do_ (leaving off Canadians from her ire given present company included her boyfriend). After Carly had admired enough stars they joined the gothic girl in the café and ordered some drinks.

"Wow, _that_ is better than anything I get back home," Carly observed.

"Seriously?" Jade was shocked. "You live in _Seattle_ and you can't get a decent cup of coffee?"

"The stuff Spencer, my brother, gets me isn't anything like as good as this. When I'm out with friends we usually get smoothies from a place near where I live," the equally pale brunette explained.

The other girl nodded curtly and returned her attention to the fresh cup that Beck had set in front of her; she took a deep draft and mentally nodded her agreement of the girl's opinion; it _was_ a really good cup of coffee.

"So where next?" Carly asked curiously as they left the café.

"Well I thought we could do the movie star homes tour," Robbie suggested.

"It gives us a taste of how _we'll_ be living in a few years," Jade smirked as the brunette nodded.

"After that," Beck added, "there's a couple of museums – Tussaud's with the waxworks and the Hollywood museum – we could take in them and then we're going to be pretty much out of time since we all need to get ready for the party tonight."

"I know _Cat_ is busy, she said so last night, but I thought that other girl, the one who joined your class recently, might have been here. What was her name… Tori?" the Seattleite wrinkled her brow in thought.

"Yeah, she's hanging with her boyfriend today; you'll see them at the party," Jade's voice carried a little _too_ much relish; Carly gave her a confused look so the darker-haired girl dropped it before she aroused any suspicion in their guest.

_Benson residence_

"Are you ok Carls?" Freddie asked, knocking on the guest room door; he stuck his head round it to see the girl sat on the bed cradling something.

"Oh I'm fine," she assured him, slipping the item under the neck of her shirt, "it's just…" she continued as he eyed her with concern, "that necklace came from my dad and today of all days I just find myself thinking about him being overseas with the military."

Freddie nodded sympathetically; he couldn't imagine what it was like for Carly to have her father overseas for so long. _Though she does know, pretty much, where he is_, he thought ruefully; he had absolutely no idea what had happened to his own father. Marissa never talked about him and they never heard from the man.

"How was your day with the others?"

"It was good thanks," she went into detail about some of the things they had seen and done. "Are we ready to go?" she asked; he eyed her attire, thinking that she looked resplendent in a dark blue dress; it exposed a little of her midriff and she wore a black sash around her waist. He wore dark blue jeans and a deep maroon polo shirt with thin blue hoops over a grey T-shirt.

"I think so," he checked his watch, "it's just after six so we'll head for Cat's in a few minutes but before we do…" he added as she stood and made for the door.

"What is it?"

"There's going to be a couple of… surprise guests tonight, Carls," he began.

"Oh, anyone famous?"

"Not _famous_ exactly; Kenan, whose house it is, is in New York, but… people you know."

In answer to her confused look he continued, "Sam is going to be there; I invited her…" she gasped a little but he pressed on, "and, and I'm sorry Carly," he lowered his tone wearily as she gave him a confused look, "Steven's here – he's dating a friend of mine too."

"Steven?"

"Your boyfriend; he's been playing you and my friend Tori." He caught the girl as her knees weakened and guided her to a sitting position on the guest bed, taking a seat by her side and supporting her.

"You… you're wrong; he can't be, why would you say that to me?" she argued angrily.

"I'm sorry Carls, but it's the truth," he countered morosely, "Spencer sent me a picture of you two together – it's the same guy."

"How long have you known?" she asked, resigned to what he was telling her by the tone he was using; thinking rationally, he looked so happy with Cat so why would he sabotage _her_? It's not like anything could happen between them anymore with him in LA and her in Seattle. The thought struck her like a punch in the gut; _his love for me is gone forever_. A small tear began to form in her right eye and she sniffled sadly.

"For certain? Just over a week when I heard what his last name was and Spencer sent me the picture of the two of you. Before then, it was a big coincidence that your boyfriends moved between the two cities on the same day but obviously I needed evidence before I could say or do anything." Carly dissolved into tears at these words; he hated himself for making the girl cry but he knew that she had to find out about it all. He pulled her into a hug and let her sob herself to some semblance of calm.

"So now what?" she asked weakly as she lifted her head off his chest and looked at him.

"I think a little revenge and payback is in order," he took a tissue from the night stand and gently wiped her eyes, taking care not to damage her make-up (except to wipe up some of the mascara that had run in her tears). "Tori knows, I told her as soon as I was certain – it's one of the reasons for inviting you down here – that and I thought you'd enjoy the party and I wanted to hang with you a little again," she gave a watery smile at this. "She's been playing along since then for the last few days and keeping Steven in the dark."

"So what's the plan?"

"Show up, confront him, let Sam cut loose with the butter sock," he shrugged.

"Maybe we could be a little more subtle," the brunette mused with a surprising grin as her devious side kicked in with the initial shock subsiding.

"Oh?"

"You're bringing your handheld camera?" He confirmed with a nod. "How about an impromptu episode of iCarly…" she thought out loud; they continued to bounce ideas around en route to Cat's house.

_Valentine residence_

The two girls were ready and waiting when Freddie and Carly arrived; the living room was full of nervous energy; it was an unusual experience for Sam, but then it was the first time she'd see her former best friend after an absence of nearly two years.

The blonde wore a simple yet reasonably elegant black, floor-length dress. She had 'liberated' it from her mother's wardrobe and washed it thoroughly after arriving at Cat's house; she didn't want to dwell on the garment's history but figured she needed something smart for the party and didn't think she'd be able to borrow anything from any of Freddie's friends (or talk any of them into _buying_ her something – Freddie would have in an instant, of course, but he was working a lot or busy with Cat) so she got the least trampy thing of her mother's that would fit her and brought it along. His girlfriend, meanwhile, wore a powder blue spaghetti-strap top with a pretty grey top with black and blue patterns over it along with a pair of her darker Daisy Dukes.

"You love showing off your legs," the blonde commented with an amused grin as she eyed the redhead's attire. Cat giggled and observed that Freddie liked them too, a factoid that Sam tucked away in the back of her mind, knowing – of course – that bit more about the boy's romantic history than his girlfriend did.

On the other side of the front door, Carly was equally tense; she had only had a few moments to get used to the idea that she would be seeing Sam – and they had been taken up by her thoughts about discovering that Steven was cheating on her. The brunette fidgeted nervously as Freddie rang the doorbell.

"Just relax," he whispered with a reassuring smile; she returned it weakly as her nerves failed to dissipate.

"Hi!" Cat answered the door and flung herself on her boy; he swept her off her feet and pulled her into a hug. Carly looked cautiously around the couple at the other girl stood in the doorway; to an extent she was relieved that Sam looked as apprehensive as she felt.

"Hey," she greeted her inadequately.

"Carly," Sam replied sullenly as resentment began to well up within her again.

"It's uh…" the brunette trailed off, "How have you been?" she asked.

"Since you stopped visiting me in juvie?" the blonde teen snarled, "Since my _best friend_ abandoned me and left me to rot in that place, day after day with no visitors at all? I wasn't expecting mom to show, Melanie has her own life at that snotty boarding school but I kept thinking… Carly will be here, she won't abandon me. How wrong can you be?" she finished with a snort of disgust; Carly lowered her eyes to the floor with guilt. Shame crept onto her face as well as she reflected on her behaviour.

"I…" she began, the Vegas-based girl looked expectantly at her; Freddie and Cat remained stood in the doorway, just behind the brunette, watching nervously as the two former best friends confronted one another, "I don't know what to say," she admitted, "I had my own life to lead when I switched schools – and you got left behind. I regret that but it's not my fault that you got sent to juvie," her voice firmed as she attempted to rebut some of the other girl's complaints, "I visited but then my life took over and… and you did become less important to me," she conceded quietly; Sam's face fell a little at the confirmation of what she'd long suspected. "I could have made more effort but I didn't; I chose my new life over my old one," she finished with a shrug then, seeing Sam stunned somewhat into silence by what she'd said, she added, "it _is_ good to see you again Sam."

The mischievous blonde nodded and responded, in a gruff voice, "you're looking well yourself Carly, and I guess it's true," she looked past the girl to the other brown-haired teenager, "when chizz happens you really _do_ find out who your true friends are." She picked up her purse, which _did_ contain the butter sock, and walked out of the house, past the other three teens and waited by Freddie's car.

The teenage couple looked sympathetically at the Seattle-based girl.

"I deserved that," she conceded, "let's go."

Cat pulled the front door shut and locked it; the trio joined the blonde by Freddie's Corolla. Unfortunately for the reacquainted pair, Cat, as usual, sat in the front seat alongside her boyfriend leaving a very awkward silence in the back seat of the car, broken only when one or other of the girls replied to a question from their former tech producer.

_Kenan Thompson's residence, Hollywood, Los Angeles_

Freddie parked outside the front of the TV star's new mansion; he allowed the girls to lead the way inside, thankful that the frosty atmosphere would dissipate a little as they mingled and, for Carly and Sam he suspected, avoided one another as much as possible over the coming hours. Cat slipped her hand into his and gave him a supportive smile and a squeeze, correctly reading the look of concern on her boyfriend's face about how the reunion of his former two best friends had gone; he looked at her and gave her a grateful smile in return as they entered the house.

"André!" he called as they spotted their friend just inside the front door.

"Freddie! Cat!" he called back at them, "how are you guys doing?"

"You know Sam," he gestured to the blonde, "and that's Carly," he casually introduced the brunette web star.

"It _really_ is her," the songsmith remarked, "I've seen the show," he added idly; it was a comment that further annoyed the blonde.

"Alright, we need to hide you two for a little bit," Freddie told his guests in a low voice, "at least until Tori gets here and we put the plan into action. I've got my camera, Sam's got the butter sock…"

"It's right here," the blonde smiled proudly, drew the item from her purse and began to twirl it around.

"We put the butter in the freezer all afternoon to make it extra hard," Cat added.

"I thought we…" Carly began, looking at the boy.

"Oh right, we're still using the butter-sock but fill her in on the modifications to the plan."

* * *

"I'm going to be hiding out with _her_?" Sam sounded disgusted at the thought.

"It'll give you two time to talk a little more," Freddie told her amiably as they entered one of the spacious bedrooms upstairs. "Got your phone Sam?" The blonde nodded and held the device up in confirmation. "Great, I'll call you when it's time to set things in motion."

"Thanks for being a part of this," Carly began awkwardly as the couple left the girls alone.

"You think I'm doing this for _you_?" she spat out in disgust. "I'm doing this because _Freddie_, my _real friend_, asked me to and because Tori's a nice girl and doesn't deserve what's happened to her."

"You think that I do?" the brunette asked in defeat.

Sam paused for a moment, deliberating her answer. "Let's just say I have a lot less sympathy for you," she settled upon.

"I can understand that," Carly looked away from her and took a seat on the room's plush bed; neither girl looked at the other.

_Ground Floor, Main Party Area_

"Whoa. Check this place out," Tori had just arrived, Steven in tow; Robbie (and, of course Rex) had arrived at the same time.

"This is sick," her soon-to-be ex-boyfriend commented.

"Yeah," the ventriloquist added.

"Yo, Dré," the DJ, who was setting up, called to the songsmith as he spotted him in the hallway.

"Yo, what's up?" he replied.

"You ain't telling me Kenan's house was sweatin' diamonds," the DJ was surprised by the grandeur of the place.

"I know, right?" the boy agreed. "Oh, Mustang, this is Tori, Steven," he struggled but succeeded in keeping his voice neutral, "and Robbie."

"Yo," Steven greeted him.

"Hello," Tori smiled.

"What's going on?" Robbie added.

"I believe someone forgot to introduce someone," Rex added pointedly.

"And that's Rex," André amended.

"Downtown," Mustang nodded.

"Back around," the puppet returned.

"Oh, Mustang's going to be spinning tracks tonight," the musician explained.

"Stricka... stricka... Straight up," the DJ confirmed.

"Stricka... stricka... Straight up," Tori echoed; the others all looked at her. "I wanted to do it too," she protested.

"I'm going to go back over there," Mustang made for his decks.

"Oh, let's go pick a place," Tori suggested to the cheater.

"A place for what?" he asked in confusion.

"Oh, y'know," she explained casually, "somewhere... quiet, away from the main party where we can have some alone-time." She smiled at him. "Just you and me."

Steven chuckled. "Oh, I like the sound of that."

"Mm, it's going to be good," Tori told him.

"Mm-hmm," he agreed. "Oh hey guys," he greeted Freddie and Cat as they arrived at the bottom of the stairs, hand-in-hand. He and Tori walked past them and set off to find their special 'quiet place'.

Beck, leading Jade by the hand, also joined the gathering; the couple paused to appreciate the magnitude of the residence.

"Wow, this is some place huh?" his girlfriend commented before smiling as she spotted Freddie and Cat. "Hey," she called, "you two been checking the whole place out already?" she asked teasingly.

"Something like that, we've hidden Carly and Sam in a room upstairs until it's time to confront Steven," Freddie explained in a low voice.

Jade nodded at the answer. "So isn't there supposed to be a hot tub here?" she asked.

"I believe so," André commented, "maybe it's out the back."

"I will go and look for it later," Beck volunteered.

"We should have brought our costumes," Cat complained, suddenly feeling that Jade's plan to enjoy the hot tub was a very good one.

"I think I'm going to be too busy with _Operation Payback_ to enjoy it," Freddie noted regretfully.

"Yes, what's planned for Operation Payback?" the Canadian actor asked curiously as he paused before beginning his quest.

"A lot of pain, suffering and humiliation," Freddie grinned; he seemed to relish what was in store for the cheating boyfriend. He wasn't the only one; ever since learning the whole story earlier in the week (when plans were made for them to hang with Carly for the day) both Beck and André had been furious and eager for revenge. They were looking forward to the events of the evening. "There _has_ been a minor change in the plan though," he added, "we're going to get his reaction live on iCarly for the internet and the world to see. Of course I need to stop the camera before we set Sam on him, otherwise she'll be back in jail soon."

The two nodded their understanding.

"Oh, ok play it cool," Freddie had spotted Tori and Steven, hand-in-hand, returning from their own hunt; he eyed Trina struggling to keep an angry scowl off her face as she spotted her sister and Steven together.

"Freddie, so did your friend make it?" Tori enquired.

"Yeah, she's upstairs exploring. Actually," he put on a fake-thoughtful expression, "I'd best head on up there and make sure she's ok; I wouldn't want her lapsing into old ways and damaging stuff."

"You think she'd do that?" Steven spoke up; after all he had never encountered the blonde.

"Yeah, you don't know Sam," Freddie laughed.

"I'm sure I'll get the chance to meet her during this party," the taller teen grinned back.

Freddie bit his tongue and nodded as he steered himself and Cat away from them and headed for the staircase. "And the lesson from _that_ is to always be careful what you wish for, because you might just get it," he told his girlfriend who giggled as she understood his meaning.

The young couple reached the upstairs bedrooms; Freddie was concerned about just how quiet it seemed in there. Wild thoughts, ranging from Sam having gagged Carly and bound her to the bed to the blonde outright strangling her former friend, raced through their former tech producer's mind as he opened the door, surprised to find the room empty. His concern was just starting to grow when in the back of his mind it occurred to him that something wasn't quite right.

"I thought we left them in the room across the hall," Cat pointed out; her boyfriend smiled and shook his head, feeling a little foolish at his mistake. He muttered 'too many rooms in this house' as he allowed the read-haired girl to lead him to the room in which they had left their two guests; it was no louder than the empty room as Carly sat awkwardly on the bed while Sam stood by the walk-in closet, arms folded across her chest and her back to the brunette.

"Ok," the boy announced hastily; both girls turned to face him, "Tori is here, complete with skunkbag," it drew a watery smile from Carly and a frown from Sam, "so here we go. Tori's going to drag him away to a quiet part of the house in a few minutes; a little 'alone time' away from the chaos of the main event," he grinned, thinking that doing likewise with Cat at some point sounded like a good idea, "once she does she's going to let me know, then we can all come along and confront him. Sam, have you still got the butter sock?"

"Mama's all set," she assured him.

"Ok, just a few more minutes then you can start to enjoy the party," he assured the girls as he and Cat departed and made their way back downstairs; they saw Tori and Steven still talking to Beck. Freddie scanned the room and saw André talking to Mustang the DJ as the music began to pump from the speakers; he strongly suspected that the musician had vacated the area before he lost his composure and slugged the other boy.

The brown-eyed boy led his girlfriend over to the DJ station and hailed his friend. "Nearly show time," he grinned before musing, "it's a shame that we don't have a giant screen that I could wirelessly hook my camera up to so we get live feed of him getting found out. Ah well, we'll have to settle for showing people the footage later."

"I think they're going," Cat tugged at her boyfriend's hand and pointed to Tori leading Steven away from the main hall.

"Ok, can you let Jade know? I'm sure she won't want to miss this. I'll meet you at the bottom of the stairs." Cat nodded and sped away as he pulled out his phone and called Sam.

Freddie and the four girls met at the agreed point; Jade looked excited at what was about to transpire. She wouldn't miss this show for anything.

"Ok," Freddie led the quartet into a room just off the hall; he scanned his phone for the text Tori had just sent revealing their exact location, "they are in the next-door room so I will start my camera, you two can give an introduction, just like old times," he smiled at the former co-hosts, neither of whom looked too comfortable at the thought, "then we'll head there; I'll talk as if I was doing a filmed tour of the place and then… we nail the bastard."

The girls nodded and Freddie switched on his little handheld camera.

"In five, four, three, two…" he pointed at the double-act and pressed record, thinking on just how much he missed doing so for them.

"Hello people of earth and welcome to a special episode of _iCarly_," the brunette began. "I'm Carly and back by _very_ popular demand," she continued placatingly before gesturing to the blonde.

"I'm Sam, back out of juvie, better than ever and ready to have some fun," she grinned.

"Now, we _will_ be having a lot of fun tonight because we're here in Los Angeles at the house of _Kenan Thompson_," Carly explained, "and we have some very special guests for this show; say hi to the people Freddie."

The boy turned the camera on himself. "Yes, Sam's not the only 'original' who's back; I'm here too and so are," he turned to film the two Angelenos, "my girlfriend Cat Valentine," the redhead giggled.

"Hi," she waved to the camera.

"And my best friend Jade West."

"Hello," the red and blue-streak haired girl greeted the internet show's audience; she smiled more than she really wanted to, figuring that she should put on a happy front as it was a great opportunity to get some name recognition with future fans.

"Anyway," Carly called and Freddie trained the camera on her and Sam again, "we're here to meet someone _else_ that I know quite well; my soon-to-be-ex- boyfriend Steven."

Freddie turned the camera back on himself. "Steven's _also_ dating one of _our_ friends down here, Tori. BRB," and he stopped the recording.

"Ok, let's go," he opened the door and the group quietly left; he motioned to André and Beck, hovering nearby and they joined the group as he raised his voice, and the camera, switching it to record again as he spoke up while opening the door, "and just off the main hall we have this room where – " before trailing off at the sight of Tori sat on Steven's knee; she leapt from his lap and turned angrily to face the cheater, thankful that she could finally drop the act. Freddie recovered himself and continued, "where we can often find the cheating boyfriend at work."

"Cheating? What do you mean? I would never cheat on Tori!" he insisted angrily.

"Really?" Carly snapped as she pushed past Freddie to confront him; fury blazed in her eyes as horror swept over Steven's features.

"Carly, I… this isn't…"

"Ah save it _Steven_," Sam barged roughly past her co-star.

"Steven," Freddie smiled, "this is my friend Sam, who you were so keen to meet." The caught-out cheater's horror increased at the furious look on the blonde's face. Freddie turned the camera to himself again and explained, "Steven had two girlfriends at the same time; one in Seattle,"

Carly placed her hand on Freddie's left shoulder and leaned into the shot, grinning goofily, "me!"

"And one in Los Angeles,"

Tori copied her fellow brunette's actions on the boy's right shoulder and added, "me!"

"But now," Freddie set up…

"You are _so_ dumped skunkbag," the two brunettes yelled in unison before high-fiving and turning their back on the dejected – and somewhat terrified – boy. Freddie discretely switched off the camera, allowed Cat, Jade, Beck and André to enter the room before closing the door and leaning casually against it.

"Now come on," Steven pleaded, "there's all of you and only one of me."

"You'd deserve that for what you did to the girls," Freddie whispered coldly, "but I think Sam on her own should be more than enough."

The blonde drew the butter sock from her purse and took a step towards the boy; a swing of sock sent him painfully to the floor; he lifted his head and looked at her, deciding the best course of action was to retreat crab-like… until he found himself in the corner of the room. Steven swallowed nervously as the girl towered over him, brandishing her weapon and she swung again, and again, and again.

* * *

"I think he's learned his lesson," Freddie commented amiably; he held Steven's feet while Sam supported the boy's shoulders as together they carried him outside of the house.

"Yep, we'll just drop him here," and she literally dropped him onto the grass just off the paved area; he landed with s satisfying thud, "and let him sleep it off."

Freddie grinned as he set the cheater's feet down and then followed his friend back inside.

_Main Hallway_

The party wasn't going quite as well for André; far from the small, quiet party he had planned for himself and his friends, a lot more people had shown up and were merrily dancing as Mustang supplied the music (currently _The Joke Is On You_ was playing).

"Hey, hey," he tried to attract the attention of some recent crashers. "Oh, there's already too many people in here," he complained before spotting the reason for some of the uninviteds' presence. "Hey," he waded onto the dance floor and dragged Robbie and Rex away.

"What?" the bespectacled teen asked.

"We were making time with those Northridge girls, man," his puppet complained.

"See what your tweet did?" the dreadlocked teen complained angrily; 'Rex' had tweeted about the party, adding a large amount of (from André's perspective) unwanted publicity for the event. "Kenan told me I could have a small party, and there's got to be at least a hundred people here already."

"Rex tweeted it," Robbie defended himself.

"Yeah, that's right," the wild-haired puppet confirmed. "If Robbie had tweeted it, nobody would be here 'cause he only has, like, 13 followers."

"14," the boy corrected hotly.

"13, I unfollowed you," Rex explained.

"Rex," he complained.

"Hey, André," Sinjin interrupted the squabbling.

"What, Sinjin?" he demanded.

"There's a guy here who crashed the party," the dirty-blond informed him.

"Ninety per cent of the people here crashed this party," the songsmith pointed out shortly.

"Yeah, but this guy's wearing a panda bear suit, and he's running around with a tennis racquet swatting people on the butt," the technically minded teen explained.

"Man, I don't have time for jokes," André dismissed his story.

"But I'm..." the boy began.

"Go," he was dismissed.

"... Whoosh," and Sinjin departed.

"What am I supposed to say to Kenan if he finds out about all these people here?" the host lamented.

"Kenan's in New York, so why don't you relax the yap?" Rex pointed out.

"Everything's fine," Robbie agreed.

"You need to chill out," the puppet told him as the panda-suited man crept up behind the musician and swatted him with a tennis racquet.

The boy spun around and spotted the giant bear. "Hey, somebody grab that panda. Hey!" he ran after him.

Rex laughed. "Andre got whacked by a panda."

The songsmith gave chase through the house; having lost sight of the bear he did see a familiar face a couple of rooms away.

"Cat, Cat."

"Hi, André. This is an awesome party." Jade, stood next to her best friend, nodded her agreement.

"Yeah. Listen, have you seen a panda bear about this tall with a tennis racquet? He's dangerous."

Cat looked over his shoulder and replied, "Yeah, he's right behind you." André was struck again by the intruder; he spun around and raced after the bear.

"Hey, stop that panda. Hey."

Freddie, accompanied by Sam, returned from depositing Steven's unconscious body outside; he kissed Cat's cheek as they reached the girl's side, "Did I miss anything?"

"André's chasing after some guy in a panda suit who swatted his butt with a tennis racquet," the redhead explained.

She, Sam and Freddie exchanged looks.

"I'm being serious," the girl insisted.

"She really is," Jade confirmed with a smirk.

Freddie sighed. "Feel up to butter-socking someone else tonight?" he asked the blonde; she shrugged.

"So long as I get the chance to party, sure; let me just make sure the butter doesn't go soft," and she disappeared in the direction of the kitchen, hoping that she might just find a snack there too.

Beck also rejoined the gathering at this point; Jade stepped around her friends to approach her man.

"Did you find one?" she asked him.

"Yeah. Right out back, and it's huge," he confirmed.

"What are you guys talking about?" Tori asked as she arrived, drink in hand.

"A Jacuzzi," Beck explained.

"Oh, you brought a swimsuit?"

"Uh-huh," the mean girl confirmed.

"Jade loves Jacuzzis," her boyfriend added.

"Sometimes I pretend I've been captured by witches and they're using me to make human soup," the girl explained.

"I'm sure you'd be delicious," Tori commented weakly.

"Yeah, I doubt it," she shrugged.

"I would've brought a swimsuit if I had known," Tori grumbled; Cat nodded her agreement of that sentiment.

"C'mon," Jade nudged her boyfriend. "Let's go change and hit the Jacuzzi so I can pretend to be soup."

"Okay."

Back on the dance floor in front of Mustang's kit Freddie and Cat were dancing exuberantly together while Ginger Fox's _Number One _played. Carly stood on the side-lines with sad look on her face as she watched them; Sam walked over to her, hands full of taquitos and dip.

"So why are you so upset?" the blonde asked between mouthfuls. "Because of Steven or because Fredward is happy with another girl?"

Sam waited expectantly for an answer; when none was forthcoming she glowered at the web star, correctly surmising that it was actually a bit of both.

"so you're finally into him, way too late?" she challenged the brunette.

"No," Carly argued, "it's just..." she sighed, "I guess I miss the time when he only had eyes for me, y'know?"

"So you don't want him but don't want him happy with someone else?" Sam snapped angrily. "Do you have _any_ idea how selfish and self-centred that is? And towards my _best friend_?"

"How is he your best friend?" the brunette asked curiously; the last time she'd been in a room with the pair of them, back in Seattle a couple of years ago, they couldn't stand one another.

"He was the only one there for me when I was in juvie," she answered quietly. "_Everybody_ else abandoned me, but not him. I'll always be grateful to him for that."

"I shouldn't have done that," Carly replied meekly. "I should have made more of an effort."

"You made your choice," Sam shrugged, "just like you did when you kept turning him down. Now he's incredibly happy."

"Do you _really_ think she's right for him?" the Seattle native pressed. To answer Sam's raised eyebrow she elaborated, "she just seems a little… immature for Freddie's tastes."

The blonde shrugged again. "He really likes her and she makes him happy; as his friend I can't ask for anything else." Then she turned to the other girl and put on her sternest, most threatening expression. "You screwed things up for them once before Carly Shay; if you dare come between them again you will regret it for the rest of your life, _however_ short that may be."

"I won't," she surrendered.

"Hey!" Tori called as Freddie and his girlfriend took a breather from their dancing; the half-Latina took them to one side. "Do you see Steven still out there?" and she gestured to the place where they had left the cheater.

"Uhh…" Freddie looked through one of the windows. "No, though I see a giant panda bear with a tennis racquet," he commented in surprise.

"Oh that must be the one who was chasing André earlier," Cat observed, causing the brown-haired pair to exchange looks and shrugs.

"Sam will deal with him later," he repeated before looking over to where the two girls had been; Sam was now dancing enthusiastically with a random male partygoer; Carly, meanwhile, was still stood alone on side-lines wearing a dejected expression.

"I'll talk to her," Cat had followed Freddie's gaze and spotted the brunette alone; he gave her a surprised look. "I think we need to talk about stuff after... y'know, last year."

"Ok," the boy smiled as his girl made her way across the room. "Want to dance?" he asked Tori; she eagerly agreed and they found a patch of floor close to Sam and her newfound partner.

Carly seemed as surprised as Freddie when the doey-eyed red-head made her way over to her.

"Hi Carly," she called over the pounding music.

"Cat, hey," the other girl smiled uncomfortably.

"Can we talk?" Without waiting for a reply Cat took the brunette's arm and led her to the room where they had ambushed Steven. Sam broke away from her dance briefly and spoke to Freddie.

"Do you think I should keep an eye on them?"

"No," he called back, "they have stuff to resolve; leave them to it."

The blonde nodded and went back to her dance.

* * *

Carly took a seat on the plush couch in the room Cat had led her to; Freddie's girlfriend sat opposite her on the red love seat.

"You wanted to talk?" Carly began dully.

"I thought we should," Cat replied. "I know you apologised but I really want to know why you were so mean to me and said what you did about Freddie to me."

Carly sighed heavily; unlike Sam she knew the redhead wouldn't accept anything other than a full explanation of her actions. She clasped her hands together and rested them on her knees before beginning, "To understand that, you need to understand our… history." She told the girl the same things that she'd said to Sam; how Freddie had had a crush on her ever since he was eleven, how she hadn't returned it but it made her feel special, how she started to become possessive of his love and threatened by any other girl who it looked like could take it away from her.

"It's not good, it's not nice and it doesn't make _me_ nice," she conceded, "but that's the way it was. I loved being loved – and you threatened that. It wasn't until you two broke up and I realised just how badly I'd hurt him that I fully appreciated what my actions had done. When he came to Seattle the Christmas before last and not only did he _not_ visit me, he took steps to _avoid_ seeing me and wouldn't even let my brother tell me that they came across one another… well that was a huge slap in the face for me and really made me think about my actions. _I'm sorry_," she repeated, earnestly and genuinely, "I seem to be having to say that a lot tonight," she laughed mirthlessly, "I wish I could change it but I can't. At least you two figured it out in the end."

"We did, and I should never have let you upset me as much as I did; I should have fought harder for him – then maybe we'd have stayed together the whole time and _Lindsey_ wouldn't have happened and upset him so much."

"What did she do?" Carly interrupted, curiously; she knew little about that relationship.

"I don't know for sure; he doesn't like to talk about it but she really hurt him for a long time when she broke up with him."

Carly nodded sympathetically; she wondered if the _best friend_ tag worked both ways and she could try to ferret the information out of Sam, now that her curiosity had been piqued. For now, though, she turned her attention back to the girl sitting across from her.

"Can we at least _try_ to be friends?" she asked hopefully, figuring it would make things with Freddie easier if she and his girlfriend were at least civil.

Cat gave her her winning smile. "Sure," she said happily and moved across to hug the girl; Carly was taken by surprise by the generous gesture but happily reciprocated.

* * *

André, still pursuing the panda bear, returned to the main dance floor; he came across Tori and Freddie just extricating themselves from the throng. The pair were laughing together having enjoyed their dance.

"Hey, did anyone see a large panda bear with a tennis racquet run in here?" he called.

"Hey, dude," Tori greeted him.

"What?" he asked distractedly. "Oh, hey," he returned her greeting before spotting two kids throwing a lamp back and forth from the other side of the room. "Whoa, whoa, whoa, wait. Put the lamp down. Have some respect for Kenan Thompson's lamp," he demanded. "Alright." Unfortunately the boy's guard was down and the panda snuck up and swatted him again. "You guys put the lamp down. I'll handle the panda," he told the boys and raced after the giant bear.

"So," Sam put a forearm on Freddie's shoulder, "_that's_ the panda you want me to butter-sock?"

"Yeah, if he gets close enough?"

"No problem, I'll get the sock back in a few minutes," the blonde grinned menacingly before returning to her dance partner as another song struck up.

The two cupcake lovers had emerged from their talk.

"Hi Freddie!" Cat called as she approached him and Tori.

"Cat! Carls," he nodded at the brunette. "Want another dance?" he asked the red velvet-haired girl; she accepted happily.

"'kay 'kay," she agreed and allowed him to take her hand, leading her onto the floor.

"You're not dancing?" Tori asked curiously as her fellow brunette retreated to the side of the room.

"I uh…" she shrugged.

"Aw come on, you can't let that jerk ruin things for you," of course referring to their mutual ex-boyfriend. "There's plenty of guys here, you're a celebrity, it should be easy to get a few dances if nothing else. Sam seems to be having fun," she gestured to the blonde.

"I guess," Carly shrugged and followed Tori into the sea of teens on the floor; soon they were both dancing merrily.

Unfortunately for the revellers, a mini disaster was about to strike in the curly-haired shape of Robbie; the ventriloquist was talking to Mustang about the music being played.

"Do you have any retro music? Like the Spice Girls? Whatever happened to baby Spice?"

"Look," the DJ replied, "you seem like a nice kid, but you make me sick."

"Awww. You see that? You irritate everybody," Rex taunted his handler.

"Why do you always have to..." the boy began in an annoyed voice before knocking his drink onto the DJ's decks, abruptly stopping the music. "I'm sorry," he apologised, horrified at what he'd done.

"If I could've come here by myself, I would've," the puppet lamented.

Angry teens, their dancing and fun interrupted, began to heckle the bespectacled boy. "Just calm down," he urged them.

"Shut up, Samberg!" one of them shouted, confusing him with the comedic writer and rapper.

"Yeah," another echoed.

"Alright, alright, chill out; don't bust a vessel," Mustang sought to restore order. "I'm going to call my boys, have 'em bring me some backup. 'Til then, who wants to take the mic and throw some rhymes freestyle?"

"It's a great idea," Robbie agreed, wanting first turn. "Here... Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa," he struggled as people began to mob the stage.

_The back yard_

Beck and Jade were relaxing in Kenan's Jacuzzi; the Canadian actor stroked his girlfriend's hair tenderly as she rested her back against the side of the tub and closed her eyes. She sighed contentedly, having exhausted her fantasies of being turned into soup (for the time being anyway) and she was just enjoying some alone-time with her boyfriend in relative privacy, given the goings-on just a few yards away from them.

"When I get famous I'm going to have one of these in every room of my house," she told him with a smile.

"Sounds good to me," he agreed with a smile, shuffling closer to her and resting his free hand on her thigh; she leaned back and enjoyed the contact adding another pleasant sensation to what she was feeling. The dark brunette tilted her head to the side and found her boyfriend's lips; the couple kissed happily and increasingly passionately as they reclined in the warm waters of the tub.

_Main Hallway_

Robbie's attempts to rap had not been well received; Rex, however, was now the reigning champion. His latest challenger, an African-American teen, was just about to come to the end of his freestyle.

"_Your flow was just bad_, _so I'm going to help you_,

_so look_, _here's your homework_,

_go read my rhyme book_."

"Yeah, yeah, props to the challenger," Mustang called as the audience cheered, "now, it's to you, Rex."

"Pump the beat," the puppet ordered.

"_Kiddies, kiddies, pay attention,_

_MC Rex is rapping so class is in session._

_You better take notes if you wanna survive,_

_'cause you couldn't earn a dime with them weak, old rhymes. _

_I'll battle anybody, name your time or place. _

_I'll be running circles 'round you like a relay race._

_I'm so nice on this mic when I take control,_

_I'll flip your hat backwards like a California roll._"

The audience "ohhed" at the put-down as puppet and handler smiled smugly.

"You just got pwned, puppet style," Rex told him.

_Bedroom, Second Floor_

A number of partygoers stood watching some of their contemporaries use a surfing game on one of the pear box machines; the current contestant, a teen of Chinese descent with slightly long, black hair, was about to reach the end of his turn.

"Wipeout," the machine declared as he stumbled on the surfboard/controller.

"Hey, I would've had 10,000 but there's something wrong with the board springs," he complained.

"Right, board springs," the others echoed sarcastically.

"My turn," Sinjin declared, stepping up to the board.

"Come on, Sinjin," the watching group called.

"Set it to expert," the dirty-blond demanded.

"C'mon," they cheered him on again, impressed by his self-confidence.

_Main Entrance_

André was desperately trying to get rid of some of the crashers as more and more continued to arrive. "No more people," he insisted, trying to chivvy them out of the building. "Hey, hey. Hey, now. There's already too many people in here. Now, Kenan said I could have a small party, all right? Now, I want you out of here. I definitely want you out of here."

One more 'guest' arrived through the door, Kenan Thompson himself entered house behind the songsmith's back.

"I want you out of here," the musician insisted, "and I want... oh," he realised who he was addressing; the owner of the house who was smiling broadly.

"C'mon, man, let me stay," Kenan pleaded lightly. "Have a giraffe," he offered the plush animal to the teenager.

"You bought me a giraffe?" André was surprised. "'kay, well, yo, listen, it's kind of crazy in here…" he tried to explain.

"André, André, why are you buggin'?" the celebrity asked.

"'Cause you said I could have a small party," the other explained.

"Well, yeah, but not this small. I mean, where is everybody?"

"But there's, like, 200 people here," the dreadlocked teen argued.

"Okay, look. A small party means, like, 400 to 500 people, man," Kenan explained before his attention was captured by some of the others. "Look at those girls; those have got to be Northridge girls." He waved at them. "Hey, how ya' doing? Oh, you can tell by just how they... "

"So you're not mad?" André was surprised.

"No, I'm not mad. Kiss your giraffe, would you? Man, doesn't that feel better?"

"Feels good. Feel better already, hey?"

"That's right," the conversation was curtailed when the panda crept up behind Kenan and swatted him on the butt. "The panda? You let the panda in my house?" he accused.

"No. I've been trying to get rid of the... you know the panda?"

"Man, that freak panda bear has been showing up around me for three years now," Kenan complained. "My house, my health club, my trip to Acapulco. It's why I bought this new house. Hey, who gave the panda my new address?"

The teens in the area shrugged. "No, I don't know," was the general mutter.

"Nobody knows nothing," he shook his head ruefully. "Okay. You know what? I want somebody to catch that panda and wrestle him to the ground and call the police or animal control or something." The panda returned and swatted him again. "Ouch. He did it again. Oh, I'm going to slam that panda. C'mon. Where's my baseball bat?"

He and André gave chase; the first people they encountered were Sam, Carly, Cat and Freddie.

"Where's the panda?" the newcomers asked in stereo.

"No way," Sam laughed as she recognised the older man.

"Kenan Thompson!" Freddie cried.

"You're Kenan!" Cat echoed.

"Oh my God," Carly gasped.

"Yes, he's famous. Where'd the panda go?" André interrupted.

"We don't know, but he's going to regret it if he gets too close to Sam," Freddie replied; the blonde grinned wickedly and felt her purse, once more containing the butter sock.

"Did you change the butter?" Cat asked curiously.

"I just stuck it in the freezer for a little while after we gave Steven his beat-down," she explained.

"Oh, man. How does that funky panda keep escaping my grasp?" Kenan interrupted, shaking his head in annoyance; he and André sped off to continue their pursuit.

_Bedroom, Second Floor_

Sinjin was struggling on the expert level of the game.

"Hang on, Sinjin. Here comes the big wave," one of the onlookers cautioned.

"I'm going to do it," he exclaimed. "Huh?" he felt an unexpected jolt on the board before being thrown off the controller and ejected through the open window. "Jacuzzzzzzzzzzi!" he cried, landing in it in front of Beck and a rather startled Jade.

"Sinjin?" she asked as the now sodden boy surfaced.

"Hey?" he asked in embarrassment as he looked around at the couple; seeing Jade in a bathing suit the boy seemed to think it was a good idea to take a seat opposite them.

"GET OUT OF HERE!" Jade shrieked; he literally leapt out of the hot tub and run, dripping, back inside the house.

_Second Floor_

While Kenan and André pursued the panda it made the unfortunate decision to run by the group of four teens stood chatting in the corridor. Sam stuck a high-heeled-shoed leg out and tripped it up and sending the bear sprawling.

"You've been annoying a _lot_ of people today," she drawled in an amused voice; the person in the suit looked at the terrifying little blonde and tried to retreat, much as Steven had done earlier. The bear's success was as limited as the cheater's was as the blonde pulled the butter sock from her purse and swung on him.

"Hey, you got him?" Kenan cried as the blonde looked up. "Great work."

At his behest the teens retrieved some cords from a nearby bedroom and tied the guy up; Kenan called the cops and they awaited their arrival to book the interloper for trespassing (Sam made a mental note to make herself scarce when the police actually arrived).

"Thanks guys," the owner smiled as they took a step back from the scene and smiled at them. "Now why don't you guys enjoy the rest of the party."

_Main Hall_

"I'll say that makes Rex the number one baddest freestyler at this party," Mustang cried as yet another would-be rapper was despatched.

"Wait. Wait. Wait. Wait, wait," Sam interrupted. "Chuck me a stick," she demanded.

"What's your name?" the DJ asked curiously.

"Sam Puckett," she answered confidently.

"And you're calling out Rex?"

"Mm-hmm," she stepped towards the odd couple and taunted, "Mama going to take a puppet down."

The crowd exchanged looks at her cockiness. "Whoa, Whaaaaaat up?" they whispered.

"He doesn't like to be called a puppet," Robbie explained; Freddie palmed his forehead and shook his head.

"Nah, nah, nah. It's cool, it's cool," Rex insisted. "But let's see if you can beat this puppet, Puckett," and the rap battle began.

"_Yeah, I'm hot but I ain't taking this back,_

_'cause everybody knows that chicks can't rap!_

_I'm so cool I make thermometers drop,_

_but with my lyrics so hot I make thermometers pop!_

_'Cause, me, I always get things poppin',_

_and you should stick to shopping!_

_I've had them better but they all came and went;_

_face it Sam, you're the opening act__and I'm the main event_."

"Your turn, Laverne," he finished with as much of a smirk as a puppet could muster.

"Back up, Shirley," she shot back at Robbie.

"Alright, puck, puck, Puckett up," Mustang called.

"_Yeah_," she began.

"_Oh, how cute; a little rappin' puppet __(__psyche)._

_You're more like a rejected muppet._

_But I'm so infamous cops can find my name in a log,_

_but not you, homey; Rex is a name of a dog._

_Move over, hippies you expect my respect?_

_Want me to think you the bomb?_

_When you get all your clothes at tweenpants dot com!_

_Yeah, yeah, well too bad, little Rex,_

_all I can say is, 'sorry, curl,'_

_'cause your freestyling ain't nothing_

_compared to this girl._

_They all heard you rapping and they was like mehhh,_

_and then I showed up and everybody's like..._"

Sam held her microphone out to the floor; as one the crowd responded, with Cat and Freddie the loudest, "Yeah!"

"_So face it, Rex,_" Sam continued, "_you couldn't even rap_,

_if I stapled his lips and took his hand out your back_."

The girl received huge cheers as she finished, getting right in the face of her rival.

"I'm somewhat offended, but I admit, mamma's got rhyme," Robbie and Rex bowed to their opponent, conceding defeat. She handed the stick back to Mustang and joined Freddie and Cat on the dance floor.

"That was so awesome Sam!" the redhead cried.

"Great job," Freddie agreed, giving the girl a quick, one-armed hug.

"Alright," Mustang called, "we got the new decks installed, let's get back to the party!"

The revellers cheered wildly and the music continued for a few hours before things began to die down; the DJ checked his watch and realised that time was just about up.

"Ok," he announced, "one last song for all of you couples out there," and a slow tune struck up.

Beck and Jade made their way to the middle of the floor; Freddie and Cat were together not too far away while a number of the singles, of both sexes, stood around a little awkwardly on the side-lines.

"_I can be fragile, I can break in two,_" the song began, "_But I know I'll be Swept up by you. And if I get frightened you'll always be a place of quiet to calm me_."

Cat moved a little closer to Freddie; he pulled her gently against him and she rested her head against him as the music continued,

"_And if you feel my love just let it show, and if you want my heart just let me know; 'cause you are meant for me_."

Hearing this and seeing the couple was too much for Carly; she ran off, in the direction of the room in which they'd caught Steven, with tears in her eyes. Sam, who had been watching them dance with a broad smile on her face, looked over to the fleeing brunette and headed after her.

* * *

**AN: Thanks for reading; I really hope you liked it. Please feel free to let me know what you thought, good or bad, and I hope to see you sometime soon with the next chapter. PD.**


	22. Chapter 22: iReconcile with Sam

**AN: Hello everyone and welcome to the next part of this story; something of a continuation/conclusion of the previous chapter. As ever my gratitude to all of you who took the time to read and review the last chapter.**

**Challenge King – thank you. Yes, Sam had no reason to hold back so Steven suffered. Cat has a very forgiving nature and it's possible that the two girls bonded a little over cupcakes.**

**Fanfic-Reader-88 – yes Freddie got his proof and was able to convince Tori and then Carly. The brunette **_**has**_** upset a few people so this is maybe a chance for her to mend a couple of fences. Steven suffered badly for what he did. As for the dresses, Sam only had what she brought with her and 'borrowed' the only thing she could from Pam that she felt wouldn't make her look like a tramp. For Carly, meanwhile, I just wanted to use Miranda's dress from the **_**Despicable Me 2**_** premiere because she looked lovely wearing it.**

**Pbow – no, there was no revelation as to who was in the panda suit; I like to think it was Kel. As for the butter/margarine – Sam never worries about her trail of destruction and isn't planning on staying in California. They never tied Lindsey's butter-socking to her so she isn't too worried about being caught (though she did make herself scarce when the cops came to pick up the panda). Carly HAS been doing the show; her now former boyfriend operates the camera and one of her Briarwood friends is her co-star; some of the gang watch the show but don't feel that it's all that good (so it isn't as good or popular as in canon with the absence of Freddie and Sam).**

**As for Sam being rough to Carly; I think she feels she has a right to be after the way she was abandoned. Carly **_**did**_** have a bad time of it; maybe she'll have a bit better time of it here.**

**Darck Ben – thanks, I'm glad you enjoyed it.**

**Guest – you raise some excellent points and made the connection that I expected some people to make with the song. The difference is that **_**iSpeed Date**_** never happened in this story because none of the trio were at Ridgeway by then (Freddie left at the end of **_**iCarly**_** series 1) and two of them weren't even in Seattle so none of them would have attended the **_**Girls' Choice Dance**_** and Freddie and Carly never danced to that song in the **_**Groovy Smoothie**_**. Had they done so then I doubt very much that Freddie would have danced to it with another girl (as it kinda became **_**their**_** song). As for the rest, maybe Carly is regretting what she lost (read into that what you will, either his love or a potential boyfriend) and does feel jealous of Freddie and Cat, especially as she no longer has Steven. **

**That's everyone so I'll get on with the story.**

* * *

Chapter 22: iReconcile with Sam

_Kenan Thompson's Mansion, Los Angeles, California_

_Saturday, 11__th__ September 2010_.

"_My heart has come alive now and opened up a whole new world,_"

Sam chased after Carly, following the girl into the room where they had exposed and humbled Steven a few hours earlier. The brunette was sitting on one of the plush chairs in the room, her back was to the door and the newcomer, her shoulders were hunched and she was clearly crying.

"_I only want to show you what it's like to love this girl._"

"Carly? Carls?" Sam began cautiously as she approached the pale teen.

"Go away," mumbled the web star, burying her head in a cushion as her tremors intensified.

"Ok," the blonde shrugged and left the room, returning to the periphery of the dance floor, smiling at the sight of Freddie and Cat dancing slow and close. Carly hadn't really expected her to leave just like that; the brunette turned and started to say something, to ask the blonde girl to stay but she had already returned to the main hall.

"… '_cause you are meant for me_," the song finished and the young couple pulled apart a fraction; Freddie saw the bright, shimmering happiness in his girlfriend's eyes and leaned in for a tender kiss, one the girl was happy to participate in. Sam, feeling that she was intruding from afar, scanned the dance floor, only to see Beck and Jade among other couples similarly engaged. She shrugged and allowed her eyes to wander to the other singles and onlookers encircling the floor, settling on André, Tori, Eli and Robbie, all of whom were stood in a small group half-watching their friends dancing; like Sam they were trying to do so without feeling that they were intruding.

"Thank you everyone," Mustang cried, breaking the mood and turning all eyes to himself, "it's been a great party. Now I got to split so enjoy the rest of the night."

The couples separated and the youths broke into spontaneous applause for the DJ's efforts; he smiled and waved as he gathered his things together and his assistants helped him disconnect and move everything. Freddie glanced around the room, seeking his friends. His eyes settled on Sam, stood at the end of the little group, and he was surprised to notice that Carly was no longer with her.

"Hey," he, along with Cat, who had looped her arm through his, headed over to them before enquiring as to the brunette's whereabouts.

"Oh she's over there," the blonde jerked her head towards the room where Carly was holed up. In answer to his quizzical expression she elaborated, "she ran off during the slow dance and told me to leave her alone, so I did," she finished with a shrug.

"Well we should probably find her since we're her ride home – and she's staying with mom and me," he reasoned.

He led the way into the room; Carly was still sobbing quietly but obviously, despite being sat with her back to the door as they entered.

"Carls? Are you alright?" he asked tenderly.

"Yeah," she choked out, hastily making a motion as if to wipe her eyes with her arms, "I guess it's a delayed reaction to what Steven did," she claimed.

"Well it's time for us to go," he informed her in a soft voice; his heart ached a little as he heard her sniffle. Carly stood up, turned and faced them.

"Ok I'm ready," she declared, walking over to them and putting on a brave smile.

Freddie cut a cautious figure as he drove the girls home; he continually glanced into his rear-view mirror to check on his brown-haired friend. Carly seemed to have withdrawn completely into herself since the latter stages of the party and it was a concern to him. He pulled the car up outside the Valentine residence when they arrived at his girlfriend's home and got out of the vehicle along with Sam and Cat.

"So, I'll see you tomorrow?" he asked them; both nodded. Cat smiled as he leaned in for a goodnight kiss before he pulled Sam into a hug and kissed her cheek.

"Well I am wiped," the blonde told the redhead as they closed the front door behind them. "I'll see you in the morning."

"Aww, but I was hoping we'd watch a movie," Cat complained. Sam, knowing full well the sort of movie her host had in mind, instantly exaggerated her fatigue.

"Maybe tomorrow," she told the girl, "I really _do_ need some rest."

"Oh, 'kay 'kay," Cat tried and failed to hide her disappointment but headed to her room while Sam made for the guest room. Not feeling at all tired, the girl raided her stash of cupcakes and lay back on her bed, pear top computer open and slipped a movie DVD into its drive, smiling as the titles rolled. But for her ability to sleep through a war zone it would have been a long night for Sam as the redhead giggled loudly throughout the movie. The blonde, however, had an untroubled night's sleep.

The brown-haired pair, meanwhile, had completed their journey back to the Benson home. Freddie opened the front door to allow his friend to enter, locking it again behind them.

"Mom's gone to bed," he commented in a low voice, "so best not to disturb her, especially if she's working tomorrow… well, today I guess," he amended as the time was a little after 1 a.m.

"Working on a Sunday?" Carly whispered in an amused tone, knowing the matriarch's strict religious beliefs.

"Yeah, she justifies it as a 'shift pattern' though," he grinned, "but she _really_ wasn't happy when I swapped _my_ shift for Sunday a while ago so that Cat and I could celebrate her birthday."

Carly remained silent, not wanting to think about how the two of them could celebrate her sixteenth birthday; she shrugged the idea off as quickly as she had thought of it, dismissing any thoughts that the child-like girl she had encountered could even think about doing _that_.

"Are you sure you're ok Carly?" he asked in a concerned voice as he sat next to the girl on the couch, "I know you're still upset about Steven and everything but I hoped you'd been able to enjoy most of the party."

"I did," she tried to assure him, "but I guess seeing everyone slow dance at the end just reminded me of what I've lost."

He gently slipped an arm around her, surprised that she leaned into him rather than pulling away or fighting him off as she had done when they were kids in Seattle, and told her in a gentle voice, "He's out there Carls, that special guy. You'll find him someday."

She nodded weakly as one particular thought continued to sit resolutely in the front of her mind.

"Anyway," he released her, much to her disappointment, and stood up, "we need to get some sleep." He offered her his hand and she eagerly took it to allow him to help her to her feet. Freddie let go of her hand as soon as she was in a standing position and led the way upstairs, not seeing the expression on the brunette's face as she followed him.

_Sunday, 12__th__ September 2010_.

The house was quiet when Carly awoke; it took the Seattleite a few moments to process things: the unfamiliar surroundings and the ache in her heart but slowly she recalled the events of the last few hours and what exactly was going on. _What a way to start the day_, she thought as the misery bubbled up within her again. She picked up her pear phone from the night stand and checked the time; it was a little after 8 a.m. Figuring that nobody would miss her if she had a bit of a lie-in, she shut her eyes again and rolled over.

Down the hallway, however, Freddie had no such opportunity; he had been awakened by the ringtone of his own pear phone a few minutes earlier and then drawn to full consciousness by the shrill tones of his excited girlfriend as he answered.

"Cat," he protested at her exuberant greeting, "it's eight in the morning – on a _Sunday_."

"I know," she declared happily, "but I wanted to say hi and see what you wanted to do today since it's the last day before school starts."

He groaned, both at the wake-up call and the thought that the holidays were over.

"Alright, what did you have in mind?" he asked in a resigned tone.

_Sherman Oaks Castle Park _

_4989 Sepulveda Blvd, Sherman Oaks, CA_

"I can't _believe_ you dragged me here first thing in the morning," Sam grumbled at her hostess-for-the-weekend as the quartet picked up their golf balls and, other than Cat, their putters for their game of miniature (or baby) golf.

The two cupcake lovers shared a grin at her reaction while Freddie opted to keep quiet and instead lined up his first shot. Ever the perfectionist he was studying the angles and lines closely, until an exasperated "get on with it" from an impatient blonde encouraged him to take his first shot; a hole in one that earned him an ecstatic hug from his girlfriend as she leapt into his arms. Sam's smile at the gesture morphed into a frown as she noted Carly's far less enthusiastic response to the act.

Fortunately any confrontation was delayed by Freddie, still stumbling a little as he held his girl, informing the brunette that it was her turn. Carly set her ball down and swung the putter, attempting to recreate Freddie's shot. She didn't succeed, instead the ball veered off to the left of the hole and came to rest by the border; her shoulders slumped a little in disappointment.

"Never mind Carls," Sam's voice was bright; she set her own ball down and took a shot, sending it to the other side of the hole where it ground to a halt a couple of feet from the hole.

"Good one," Freddie congratulated her with a smile.

"Can you help me?" Cat asked with a mischievous grin towards her boy; he rolled his eyes theatrically to suppress his own grin as he stood behind her and helped her to line up the shot. Carly's eyes narrowed slightly at the sight of the brown-eyed teen with his arms around the girl in her cute little pale blue dress showing off plenty of leg.

"What do you think?" Sam asked, a little maliciously, in a low voice to the brunette as she caught her staring at their affectionate actions.

"What do you mean?" Carly feigned confusion.

"I mean how do you think they look as a couple; I think they're sweet – almost revoltingly so," the blonde smiled.

Carly just shrugged as she watched Cat's ball serenely join Freddie's in the first hole; she turned away and walked towards her own ball to avoid having to look at their affection increasing. Sam watched her go with a small glower before glancing over and smiling at the couple, her eyes lingering on them for a little while before she mimicked the pale brunette by getting ready for her second shot, a tap in before she handed the other two balls to their respective owners.

Sam made sure to stick close to the Seattle native during their round; Carly, under her watchful gaze, kept her focus more or less on the game and tried to ignore Cat's happy chatter as she and Freddie walked hand-in-hand, hugged and kissed freely during the game. The blonde became distracted, however, when she received a message on her phone around half-way around the course; she stepped off to one side, subtly enough to not catch the attention of the others and read the message; her face fell as she read it before she shook her head to rid herself of the disappointing news. One unconnected call later the girl stowed the device back in the pocket of her grey shorts. She got on with the round but her game had disintegrated somewhat, with a number of stray shots that grabbed Freddie's concern; she blew off his concern for her with her usual bravado and, in the latter stages of their trip around the course, spotted another group were closing in on them quickly and turned attention back onto the couple.

"Hey lovebirds," she taunted lightly, "we need to pick up the pace here a bit of we'll be obstructing these guys."

"Right," he replied with an apologetic grin. "Let's step it up a bit," he smiled at his girl. They did and completed the course without slowing the group behind them down too much.

As usual Freddie won; Sam, who was comfortably second before receiving her message and subsequent collapse, edged out Carly by a couple of shots; thanks to Freddie's 'assistance' with a few of her own shots, and a growing familiarity with the course, Cat finished second behind her boyfriend.

"Did you enjoy that?" Freddie asked his two guests. Carly nodded enthusiastically; beyond _iCarly_ she didn't often get to do too much _fun_ stuff; she was surrounded by quite a lot of straight-laced private schoolchildren who preferred their studies to fun (or, at least, their parents who paid a large amount of money to Briarwood for their education did!) and she had lost contact with a lot of the more 'spontaneous' crowd she knew from Ridgeway (though she and Wendy still hung together occasionally at the Groovy Smoothie).

"Yeah it was great," she enthused.

"Hey, did Spencer ever finish _his_ miniature golf course?" Freddie asked thoughtfully as he remembered the project that Carly's brother had been working on when he and Marissa left Seattle.

"Uh yeah," the brunette mumbled, suddenly taking a great interest in her shoes; Sam burst out laughing as she recalled it.

"Oh he got it finished," the blonde chortled, "but they decided it was too juvenile and vulgar for what they wanted. He wasn't amused," she smiled off into space.

"That's Spencer's _thing_," the brown-eyed boy argued, "surely they knew what they were getting when they commissioned him."

"Yeah, I just don't think they expected _that_ juvenile," Carly giggled, seeing the funny side a little as the others laughed along with her.

"Ooh ice cream!" Cat spotted the booth next to where the others returned their putters. Freddie rolled his eyes a little before pulling out his wallet and handing his girl a few bills.

"Why don't you go with her and pick out something you and Sam would like," he suggested to Carly.

"Ok," she agreed a little uncertainly but the two girls left him and the blonde alone.

"Smooth, Freddie, real subtle," she grinned.

"What's up?" he asked without preamble. Sam tried to play dumb but he wouldn't let her. "You looked at your phone, subtly but I saw you, and after that your concentration was completely off. Are you going to tell me what happened?" his voice became a lot more gentle as he asked again.

"A text from my mom; _a text_." She pulled her phone out again and re-read it, aloud this time. "'_Hey Sam, hope you're having a good weekend. We left Vegas this morning so you can't come back there. Be good, mom_.' That's _it_. No address for where they've gone to, no hint of the city or even the damn _state_ where they are. I'm homeless, Freddie, and I haven't a clue what I'm going to do."

The tough girl exterior finally cracked and the blonde's eyes became moist; Freddie pulled her into a tight hug and she began to cry openly against his shoulder. It was the sight that greeted the other two girls as they returned, both holding a pair of large ice creams.

"Sam?" Carly asked in a worried voice.

"We brought ice cream," Cat volunteered, earning her a reproachful look from the brunette. "What? It always makes _me_ feel better," she defended herself, causing Freddie to snigger; Sam joined him in a moment of laughter and pulled herself away from him, accepting the treat from Carly.

"Thanks," she told the girls and dug into her ice cream, clearly not wanting to discuss the situation further; Carly and Cat both gave Freddie quizzical looks.

"Later," he whispered to his girlfriend before taking his own ice cream from her and leading her to one of the benches in the area; they sat down and were quickly joined by the others. To Carly's disappointment Sam took a seat next to Freddie, leaving her to sit at the end of the bench next to Cat.

The concerned brunette cast several glances past the couple at her blonde former best friend; while Sam was happily engaged in conversation with them, and seemed to be tolerating the hyperactive redhead's ebullience, with no hint of the recent flood of tears that she had shed.

She would get her chance to question Sam on the drive back to Hollywood; sat in the back seat next to the blonde, Carly asked, in a low and concerned voice, whether she was ok.

"Yeah I'm fine," the former trouble-maker shrugged her off.

"You just seemed… upset when we went for ice cream," Carly persisted.

"Because I wanted pizza," she shrugged before lapsing into silence and staring out of the window. Carly knew she was being less than fully honest but knew that there was no point in trying to force the issue with the blonde; she dropped it for the time being.

_Green Meadow Mall_

_6801 Hollywood Blvd, Los Angeles, CA_

"Hi-iii," Cat called out as she spotted her best friend cradling a cup of Jet Brew coffee; Jade looked up at the smiling red velvet-haired girl and gave her and the other new arrivals a quick wave before returning her attention to her drink as she walked over to table where Beck, André, Tori (Trina, much to the group's annoyance, had tagged along with her sister), Robbie and Eli were all sitting with their smoothies. Carly and Sam pulled up four extra chairs while Cat dragged Freddie to the smoothie stand to buy them some drinks. He paid for them and they headed to the table, setting the treats down in front of their guests who thanked them graciously.

"So what have you guys been up to?" Jade asked, stifling a yawn; clearly she had only recently got up.

"Cat dragged us all off to play miniature golf," Sam grumbled, resting her arm on the table and her head on her arm.

"It was fun," the girl giggled, smiling at her schoolmates.

"I could have done with a little more sleep," Freddie protested, "it was quite a late finish last night."

"She watched a movie when we got back," Sam mumbled; Jade's jaw dropped a little.

"Did you sleep at _all_ last night, Cat?"

The girl gasped. "I _knew_ there was something I meant to do when I got back last night!" The others gave her astounded looks but she just giggled a little and began sucking on her smoothie.

Freddie just shook his head; he had more important things to worry about right now. "Have you tried calling your mom to find out where she is?" he asked Sam in a low voice, not wanting the others to know unless Sam was ready to talk about it to them.

"Yeah, as soon as I got the message," she whispered back; Carly frowned at the two of them with their heads together as she felt sure it was connected to the blonde's earlier tears at the golf course. "No answer; it looks like she sent the message and then switched her phone off. Freddie, what am I going to do? I can't imagine I'll be able to stay in LA, I can't go back to Vegas, I don't know _where_ my mom is…" She stopped and took in a deep breath as she attempted to keep the tears at bay this time. Freddie took a thoughtful draught on his smoothie as she settled herself.

"We'll figure something out; it'll all work out, I promise," he squeezed her thigh gently for a moment and she gave him a grateful, if doubtful smile; Carly's frown intensified at the innocent gesture between the two.

"So what now?" Jade asked as the group deposited their empty cups in one of the trash cans dotted around the area.

"Movie?" Robbie suggested; the others traded brief looks before nodding their agreement. Sam, however, spoke up.

"If we're going to be sat there for the next two hours then I'm going to need some food." She grabbed Freddie's sleeve and led him over to one of the stands in the food court to buy her lunch.

"Do you want anything?" he asked Cat, who had followed them over there.

"Uh, I'm good – unless we've time to hit the cupcake shop?" she asked hopefully and fluttered her eyelashes at him.

"Sure," he surrendered with a smile before addressing Sam, "you go and meet the others, we'll hit the cupcakes and find you in the cinema."

Freddie struggled to pay attention to the movie; he spent the duration of it with his arm around Cat and his girlfriend snuggling against his left-hand side as they cuddled but his mind was on the troubles afflicting the blonde girl to his right as he tried to think of a possible solution to her woes. Although various scenarios were racing through his brain, none of them seemed particularly workable or likely to happen. Eventually he just palmed his forehead with his right hand, leaned back in his seat and closed his eyes, much to Cat's surprise as she assumed that he was actually watching the movie.

She tugged gently on his sleeve and he dropped his hand, turning to face her. "What's the matter?" she mouthed.

"Something Sam told me," he whispered, "the reason why she was upset earlier. She's got some… chizz going on and I don't know how to fix it. If you want to know more you'd really have to ask her though; it's not my secret."

His girlfriend nodded, understanding that he couldn't betray a confidence even to her; she turned her attention back to the screen as Freddie struggled to do the same.

The screening finished with the brown-haired boy still no closer to figuring out a solution to his friend's troubles; the group left the cinema and reclaimed their table in the food court.

"What are you guys doing now?" Tori asked as she looked around at the other teenagers.

"Well the four of us have plans for this evening," Freddie informed her, surprising the three girls, none of whom knew anything about any plans, "but this afternoon I thought we'd just hang a little; I've not really had a chance to talk to Sam much since she's been staying with Cat's family."

"Oh, 'kay 'kay," Cat replied brightly, "Carly and I can hit a few stores and get some more cupcakes and then meet you guys later," she suggested.

"Sounds like a plan," her boy agreed before Carly could object. "Are you guys staying here for a while?" he asked his schoolmates.

"Beck and I are going to spend some alone-time together," Jade took her man's hand as she announced this,

"I guess we'll see you tomorrow then," Tori commented weakly; the group splintered and went their separate ways with Sam and Freddie heading for the car park to drive home.

"I know how badly I hurt you," Carly called after the blonde; she turned to face her. "One day I _will_ make it up to you, I promise." Sam gave a curt not before leading Freddie, who gave the brunette an apologetic smile before he turned away, out of the mall.

"So," the Seattleite turned to Freddie's perennially-happy girlfriend, "cupcakes?"

"Let's go," she cried and they set off in search of their goodies.

_Benson residence_

"Any thoughts? About what I can do," Sam elaborated as she asked her friend.

"I'll ask mom but I think she might draw the line at you moving in here permanently," he admitted.

"I think _I_ would too," the blonde smiled, "either me or your mom would kill the other in a few weeks!"

He nodded grimly. "I just don't know then Sam, but you won't be on the street; we'll find somewhere for you until we figure out a solution," he assured her. She gave him a grateful if uncertain smile.

"There's school as well; I can't just _be_ somewhere, I've got to find somewhere to go to school."

"Are you _sure_ you're not Melanie?" he grinned; she returned it.

"Very funny," she growled playfully, "juvie – and being home-schooled by my mo… by _Pam_," she corrected with a disgust-laden voice, "really has changed me."

"You could try and enrol at one of the local schools here, maybe even Hollywood Arts with us," he suggested.

"Would they let me?"

"You used to be funny on iCarly; you could try."

"No," she shook her head, "I don't think it would work. Besides, I'd still need somewhere to stay; I can't mooch off your friends forever, it wouldn't be fair – and like we said we _know_ neither your mom nor me want me to be living with you guys long-term. Anyway," she forced a smile and her features brightened, "what _do_ you have planned for this evening before we do go our separate ways tomorrow?"

_Maestro's restaurant, Los Angeles_

Having picked up his girlfriend from her home and driven them to the fancy restaurant, Freddie, dressed in black slacks and a smart blue dress shirt, led the three girls inside and requested a table for four. Carly wore a deep purple dress just stopped just above her knees. Cat, meanwhile, wore a blue dress that was a little shorter than Carly's, barely covering half of her thighs.

Sam wore the same black dress as she had the previous night for the party. "It was the only thing I could 'borrow' from my mom before I left that didn't look trampy," she explained when Carly noticed this.

"You should have said," Freddie complained, "we could have got you something in the mall earlier."

Sam shrugged; the blonde gawped as she looked around the restaurant's impressive interior during the remainder of their short walk to their table.

"Whoa Freddie, this is a _nice_ place," she complimented, "how did you find it?"

"Actually Cat did," he squeezed his girl's hand, "her parents took her there what, a couple of years ago now?" The redhead nodded her confirmation.

"We've been a couple of times before too," she picked up the story, "to celebrate our ping pong trophies." This drew curious looks from the two girls.

"You play _ping pong_?" Sam asked in surprise.

"We do sometimes on a lunchtime at school and we formed a team. We've brought home trophies in both years that we've been at the school; hopefully we'll make it a third early in the new school year," he shot a conspiratorial smirk at the redhead; he had told the girls the truth, just not the _whole_ truth.

"So you guys are pretty good then?" Carly prompted.

"Freddie's the best player," Cat informed her proudly; a waitress arrived to take their drinks order.

"So who else is on the team?" Carly pressed once the four were alone again; Freddie gave a quick list of their teammates.

"And which schools do you play against?" Sam asked.

"Well the trophies have been for regional championships…" Freddie began.

"Oh, so the Los Angeles area then?" Carly prompted; Sam looked suspiciously at the couple as they allowed the girl to believe that but refused to actually confirm it; it was a point she brought up when the brunette went to the restroom between their appetisers and entrees.

"You two seem very… evasive when talking about this whole ping pong thing," she commented, "almost as if there's a lot more to this story than you're letting on."

She smirked as the couple exchanged sheepish looks. "It doesn't matter to me; I've been interviewed by the cops enough to _know_ when someone's not saying everything. I'm not sure what you're hiding but it's none of my business," she concluded with a grin.

"We… kinda have a promise not to talk about it," Cat admitted in a low voice. Sam nodded and further discussion was ended by Carly's return; the brunette noticed the sudden hush as she returned and wore a hurt expression, assuming that they were talking about Sam's mood earlier in the day.

"What _did_ upset you earlier in the day?" she demanded, putting the girl on the spot; Sam and Freddie shared a look while Cat looked eagerly in the blonde's direction; she, of course, didn't know either.

"If you _must_ know," Sam huffed out, "my mom texted this morning saying that she and her latest loser have left town." Cat gasped in shock and Carly's expression morphed into one of surprised concern, "she's left Vegas, left the state and won't tell me where she's gone – so basically I have _nowhere_ to live."

The waitress returned with their meals and the blonde, forgetting all else, made an eager start on her meal. Carly's eyes widened at the sight; she had forgotten the girl's legendary appetite which, if anything, had grown since their friendship had disintegrated. She soon turned her mind back to the other matter at hand as she began processing her words and considering the situation.

"So, what are you going to do?" she asked timidly; Sam glared at her and she quailed a little under the look.

"Well, to start with she'll still be staying with Cat tonight," Freddie took charge of the conversation. Cat nodded her agreement; her parents had said that they would let Sam stay until Monday, when she had been due to return to Las Vegas. "After that," he sighed, "we'll really have to see. Mom might let her stay for a few days but we need to figure out something permanent – and fairly quickly. I _know_ she won't throw you out onto the street, Sam," he assured the blonde, "but…"

"I know," she nodded.

Three of the teens sat back in near exhaustion after finishing their entrees; the dessert menu had been brought but none of them were too keen to order. Sam, meanwhile, was reading it intently, determining which of the treats she'd most like to have.

"How can you even be _thinking_ about dessert after that?" Carly asked in surprise.

The blonde set the menu down but Freddie spoke up.

"If you want something, order it; I can afford it," he assured her.

"You're not paying for _all_ of this," Carly protested. "Seriously Freddie, it would cost you a fortune. Let me pay half."

The other two girls looked at her in surprise. "My dad earns good money; I get a nice allowance," she told them before turning back to the boy. "_Please_, it's not fair for you to pay for everyone."

Freddie could see the steely glare in the brunette's eyes; it was clear that she wouldn't take no for an answer. "Ok, then," he conceded, "Thank you."

Carly nodded. "Now, if you'll excuse me for a moment," she stood up and reached into her purse for her pear phone, "I need to make a quick call; I'll be back before Sam finishes her dessert."

"At the speed she eats," Freddie teased with a grin, "I wouldn't count on it." Sam gave him a playful shove but joined the boy and his girlfriend in laughing as Carly quickly stepped outside of the restaurant.

Carly narrowly won the 'race'; she returned to her seat just as Sam was about to take the last mouthful of her chocolate gateau.

"Do you want to come back to Seattle?" she asked the blonde; the other three looked at her in surprise. "I spoke to Spencer," she explained, "he's agreed that you can stay with us; heck he's agreed to apply to the state to become your guardian. He'll write a letter of recommendation to the school board so that you can enrol somewhere – probably not Ridgeway – and he's going to call the board at juvie and see if they'll write you a recommendation as well."

"They should do since you didn't cause _too_ much trouble there, especially later on," Freddie said hopefully; Sam nodded, almost in a daze at the possible turn of events. "I could write something too, if it's worth anything."

"A reference couldn't hurt," Carly agreed.

"Wow, I don't know what to say," Sam was overwhelmed by the potential turn of events. She looked at her smiling former friend. "Thank you; that would be great."

"Maybe mom and dad could write something as well," Cat suggested, "I mean they _know_ you after this weekend so maybe…"

"The more the better," Carly agreed, "we'll head up tomorrow, Spencer can make his calls, we can start to put the file together and take it from there; hopefully you'll soon be in school somewhere and won't miss more than a week or so," she addressed the blonde.

"Sounds good," Sam agreed with a nod. "Thank you Carly, so much," she continued humbly before turning to the teenage couple. "Thank you, both, as well."

"You've been there for me too when I've needed someone Sam," Freddie reminded her, earning a surprised look from the other two girls, "that's what friends do."

"To friendship!" Cat cried happily as she raised her glass; the four touched glasses and toasted.

_Benson residence_

"Freddie," Carly began as the two sat alone in the living room (Marissa had gone to bed), "what did you mean that Sam was there when you needed someone?"

"There was some… chizz over things between me and Lindsey – Sam was there when I needed someone to talk to, and there when she felt my ex- needed a beat-down."

"Wait, she came from Vegas to LA to beat someone up?"

"Yeah," he smirked, "someone who _deserved_ it though; you don't have to worry about random outpourings of violence from her – not anymore," he reassured his friend.

Carly nodded; she pressed a little further about Freddie's issues with his ex-girlfriend but reluctantly dropped it when the boy kept things deliberately vague. She did feel a little hurt that he would confide in Sam but not in her, though she did have to concede that the two had bonded somewhat since both had left Ridgeway; not for the first time she regretted losing contact with them, and the reasons for doing so.

_Valentine residence_

_Monday, 13__th__ September 2010_.

Cat awoke early, eagerly anticipating the first day of her junior year at Hollywood Arts. She quickly packed her school bag and dressed in a cute pink top and short jean shorts, grinning as she thought back on her blonde housemate's comment about how she loved to show off her leg.

Speaking of the blonde, Sam also had a renewed spring in her step; the prospect of a permanent home, away from her mother, reconciliation with one of her oldest and best friends; it was like a dream come true for her and she still struggled to believe it, right until the moment Carly arrived at Cat's house along with Freddie, who had come to give his girlfriend a ride to school.

"Hey," she greeted the pair.

"Hi Sam, ready to move to your new home?" Carly asked with a smile.

The blonde nodded happily. "I got all my stuff right here," she indicated the small case she had brought from Las Vegas. "Not much but it's pretty much everything I have."

"Well then we need to go shopping when we get home," the brunette smiled in anticipation. "Is your mom ok to give us a ride to the airport?" she asked Cat.

"Uh yeah, sure, she said she would last night."

"I'm sorry that we can't take you," Freddie told the girls, "but some of us have school to go to. In fact, we need to be going now." He hugged Sam and then Carly, saying goodbye to both girls and wishing them a safe flight.

"See you on web chat later this week?" Carly asked hopefully.

"We'll be there," he assured her; Cat nodded eagerly beside him and the brunette's enthusiasm was tempered slightly.

The two Hollywood Arts students departed for school and the remaining girls waited patiently for Mrs Valentine to be ready. She drove them to Los Angeles Airport and they checked in (Carly had managed to buy Sam a ticket on the same flight after returning to the Benson house the previous evening).

"You ready?" Carly asked as their flight was called; Sam nodded and the two girls stood up and gathered their bags. "Let's go home."

* * *

**AN: Thanks for reading; I hope you enjoyed it. Please let me know what you thought and come back for the next chapter. PD.**


	23. Chapter 23: Adjustments

**AN: Hi everyone and welcome to the latest update for this story; I hope you are all well.**

**As ever at this point I would like to thank everyone who reviewed the last chapter;**

**Challenge King – yes Pam really isn't a good mother. Carly did want to fix things between her and Sam and made the offer because the blonde needed a home; it might take them some time to get used to one another but I'm sure they'll figure it all out in time.**

**Fanfic-Reader-88 – yes it did suck for her but it all seems to have worked out for the moment.**

**Darck Ben – thank you; I think a little character development would have benefitted the show really. Sadly Dan disagreed.**

**Agent-M – thank you. Freddie and Cat I think make a cute couple; there could be a couple of bumps ahead for them at some stage but I do think that they're pretty compatible really.**

**Pbow – Freddie **_**was**_** their ride but before they learned to drive they either caught buses or walked, so Cat and Carly probably did one or the other to return home. I don't think Carly would quit her private school just to make Sam feel better about things (nor do I think Colonel Shay or Spencer would let her) and I do think that there'll be some conversations between the girls as time goes on; we'll see a little of their lives every now and again but they'll probably remain mostly peripheral characters in the story, given that they're not in Los Angeles or at Hollywood Arts.**

**Consort of Chaos – thank you; I'm glad that you discovered this story and have enjoyed what you've read so far. I did give some answers to your questions via PM; beyond that all I'll say is keep reading and you'll find out what life has in store for them all when we reach that point in the story.**

**If you haven't done so yet then I'd recommend having a read of One Horse Shay's **_**Galaxy Wars**_** story in the iCarly/Victorious cross-over section as that's a handful of chapters in and the story is just starting to develop nicely.**

**Ok, on with the story.**

* * *

Chapter 23: Adjustments

_Apartment 8-C, Bushwell Plaza, Seattle, WA_

_Tuesday, 14__th__ September 2010_.

Carly sighed as she struggled through the front door of her apartment; the brunette groaned as she stumbled under the weight of the carrier bags in her hands and boxes under her arms before overbalancing with them and collapsing comedically onto the floor in a most undignified heap.

"Carly? What are you doing down there?" Spencer asked as he cautiously stepped over her; he too had his arms full, cradling a pile of boxes that he could barely see over.

Bringing up the rear was Sam; the blonde was busily finishing off working her way through a tub of fried chicken as she calmly stepped over her prostrate friend and set the now empty tub down on the Shay's coffee table.

"Do you need some help with those?" she asked casually, picking up a couple of the fallen girl's boxes.

"Yes," Carly hissed out huffily as she struggled to her feet, "seeing as all this stuff is _yours_," she continued before finishing in a snap, "the least you could do is actually _carry_ some of it yourself."

"I had the chicken to look after!" the blonde protested. "I'd forgotten how good their chicken was," she added with a dreamy smile on her face. "Hey, is Galini still making those coconut cream pies?"

"Yes," Spencer's tone had turned sombre, "but Mr Galini passed away last year and the recipe went with him; they say he had it in his computer somewhere but nobody ever found it. The shop is still in business – and still busy – but the coconut cream pie just isn't as good as it once was."

"Oh, still, maybe we can try it out tomorrow," she suggested.

"You have school visits tomorrow!" Carly reminded her in annoyance; the Shay siblings had certainly been busy since the two girls returned to Seattle. Spencer had made a number of calls to schools in the local area and found a couple that were willing to interview the newcomer with a view to her starting in the next couple of days; the new year was just starting so she wouldn't be _that_ far behind (her grades had picked up during the latter part of her stint in juvie, though she feared that she would have regressed substantially during her mother's home schooling; in fact she was resigned to have to repeat 10th grade instead of joining her age group in the junior year).

The trio had e-mailed her transcripts to the schools (though they feared that they would cause more harm than good to her applications) overnight and spent the morning dealing with some of the formalities of Sam's move; Spencer went with her to the City Hall in order to formally commence his guardianship application. They were interviewed, together and separately, and an interim order was granted allowing her to stay with them while a full decision was made (though given Pam's absence, the circumstances of her disappearance and lack of a forwarding address they didn't expect anybody to challenge the application and it was expected to be approved without too many obstacles). From there they hit the stores to provide the girl with a new wardrobe; the bag that she had packed when she left Las Vegas would not keep her going for too long.

They had bought her far more than she had expected them to, hence the huge numbers of bags and boxes that they had returned with. Sam was immensely grateful to the siblings for their generosity (which was financed, of course, by their father far more than either of them themselves) but was still having difficulty putting the feeling into words.

"Right," she agreed, "which ones are we going to see?"

"Ok," Spencer checked the list, "there's Puget, the Center school, Franklin High…"

Sam sniggered. "Franklin," she snorted out. "I wonder how old Teddie is."

"And Nova," the sculptor continued as if she hadn't interrupted. "So there are three or four that we'll look at and see which ones will accept you as a transfer student."

"If any," she grumbled, voicing her innermost fear; that her record, and expulsion from Ridgeway, would count against her to the point that no school in the area would accept her.

At Carly's behest Sam began to transport her new purchases to the Shay's guest room (which had now become her room); the brunette helped her take them up and unpack things into her dresser and closet while her brother made a start on dinner (privately Carly doubted whether Sam would eat anything, having just single-handedly eaten a whole bucket of fried chicken; she had reckoned without the blonde's insatiable appetite).

"So, what do you girls have planned for tonight?" Spencer asked as he cleared away the plates after they had finished eating.

"I thought I might talk to Freddie, see how he's getting on with the new school year," Sam replied with a shrug.

"Ooh, great idea," Carly praised her, "let's try him now."

"Nah, he'll be at the gym with André right now," Sam glanced at the digital display on the oven. "Give him an hour; he should be done by then."

Carly nodded, feeling a little resentful that the blonde now knew their friend and his life so much better than she did.

_Valentine residence, Hollywood Hills, Los Angeles, CA_

Having completed his work-out Freddie called in on his girlfriend on the way home; as usual Cat's parents were delighted to see him and happy to admit him to their home.

"Hi Freddie," Mr Valentine greeted him amiably, "Cat's upstairs in her room; you can go straight up."

"Thank you sir," he replied respectfully, granting the man a small nod of his head as he stepped to one side to allow the teenager inside.

"Hello Freddie," Mrs Valentine called from the living room as he made his way towards the staircase; he returned the greeting with a small wave of his own before heading up to the red haired girl's room; he rapped softly on the door when he saw that she was sat at her desk with her back to him.

"Freddie!" she exclaimed as she spun around at the knock on her door. The girl hopped from her chair and rushed over to pull him into a hug; he gave her a gentle kiss on the lips as she threw her arms around him and jumped, pushing her weight against him and wrapping her slender legs around his waist. This had the slightly unwelcome side effect of riding her already short dress further up her legs; Freddie shifted his hands to support the girl's weight (otherwise it would have been borne by his neck) and the best place for his hands was underneath her upper thighs, now uncovered by the flimsy material of her garment. He was thankful that her chin was resting on his shoulder as it meant she couldn't see his uncomfortable, slightly embarrassed look at having his hands on bare skin so close to a private and intimate area.

After a few seconds her legs slipped back towards the ground and he was able to set her down, swooping in to give her another quick peck on the lips as he did, resulting in him hearing her (in his opinion anyway) adorable giggle.

"I guess you missed me over the last few hours then," he joked, his heart warming as she presented him with her prettiest smile and fluttered her eyelashes a little.

"I did," she admitted, "and I was wondering, did you get a chance to look at the list of plays that they put up today?"

"No, I didn't need anything from my locker this afternoon so I didn't go by the noticeboard after lunch; it wasn't up this morning," he finished, frowning slightly. "Are there any good ones?" he asked, seeing that enthusiasm was bubbling up inside the girl once again.

"Yeah, there was one, _Heart of Gold_, that I think we would be perfect for the leads in," she enthused. "I signed up for it and I…" she gave an embarrassed grin, "I kinda signed you up for it as well, I hope you don't mind."

He suppressed the urge to roll his eyes, accepting that the exuberance was a part of his girlfriend and that, had she not done so, he would have signed up for it himself tomorrow anyway.

"No, it's fine," he gave her a genuine smile. "Hopefully we'll have some rehearsals to do together before long," he concluded, his mind wandering back to some of their previous performances together. "Has anyone else signed up for anything?"

"Jade's gone for the lead in two of them; Beck's signed up for one of those. André is down to do some of the music for a couple of them; I don't know about anyone else."

"I'll be surprised if Tori hasn't put in for any of them," her boyfriend observed thoughtfully, "she still has a bit of lost time to make up for." His train of thought was derailed by the message alert on his pear phone; he withdrew the device from his pocket and glanced at the screen.

"Who is it?" Cat pried.

"Sam; she and Carly are asking if I – so _we_ – want to video chat tonight."

"That would be so much fun!" the girl enthused; her boyfriend smiled and fired back a quick _yes_ to the Seattleites and slipped the phone back into his pants pocket.

"Hi-iii," the redhead waved as the two girls appeared on her screen after loading up the computer; Carly was fully expecting to see her, given that the chat request had come from her fellow cupcake-lover's account, but she still had to suppress a frown at seeing the two of them together as it was something that she just couldn't get used to. Sam's smile was far more genuine as she happily greeted the couple.

"Hey guys, how's school going?"

"Fine," the brown-haired boy answered her, explaining about how his girl had signed them up for a play (Cat giggled, slightly embarrassed) as he did and they then went on to discuss their new classes. "We have Sikowitz, again, for one of our acting classes; he's put up a couple of posters about something called _Summer in Film_; I need to get some details about that because that could be a good thing to do next summer."

Cat nodded alongside him, "It's a summer holiday course and it sounds like it could be a lot of fun, and it would help us learn more about the industry," she agreed.

"Hey, maybe _we_ could come down for it?" Sam suggested; she was assuming that she would be back on _iCarly_ now that she and Carly had reconciled. The Los Angeles-based couple traded looks and promised that they'd make enquiries.

"Other classes… well I've got to do the make-up class that you had so much fun with last semester," Freddie smiled at his girl; she giggled again as she remembered the trouble that she had caused for Tori. "Mostly special effects," he clarified quickly, trying to make it seem a little more manly as the two girls sniggered, "but some of it is based on the 'natural'-looking stuff that you need on camera. After that, singing, set design – so art basically," Carly shuddered a little; she had none of her brother's talent in that field, "a bit of drama," Freddie continued, "I _don't_ have to do tech theatre as I've already passed the exam," he smiled proudly; Carly glowed as she remembered his efforts in getting _iCarly_ off the ground a couple of years earlier, "that's it for now, apart from the usual academic stuff," he shrugged.

"I really wanted to do costume design," Cat complained, "but I couldn't fit it into my timetable, so it will be next semester now. I have to do theatre history II later in the semester as well." Freddie confirmed that he would also be taking that class later on.

"How about you, Sam, any sign of a school yet?" he asked.

The blonde relayed their day, shopping, school-hunting and the other things that they'd been up to; she gave rather more emphasis than was necessary to the quality of the fried chicken she had eaten but it amused her friends to hear her wax so lyrical about it.

"So we have these places to visit tomorrow," she concluded, "and hopefully one of them will let me start next week."

"Sounds great," the red velvet-dyed haired girl was enthusiastic; Freddie felt a little more circumspect, knowing more of his friend's history, and he saw the concern manifesting in the blonde former trouble-maker's eyes.

"You'll be fine," he attempted to reassure her and she nodded gratefully. "How about you Carls? Are you back at Briarwood yet?"

"No," she replied happily, "we don't start again for another couple of weeks yet. So plenty of time to help Sam get used to life back up here."

"How are you finding it so far?" he asked curiously, "living together", he clarified; the brunette shot a side-long glance at the blonde and she grinned back, with a trace of guilt in her smile.

"It's going to take time to get used to one another," Carly replied delicately.

"She means I'm a pain in the butt," Sam laughed; her housemate smiled but declined to immediately contradict her.

"Oh it's not that bad," the brunette noted after a discrete pause, "just that you leave stuff all over the apartment and Spencer's already fallen down the stairs three times tripping over things that you've left strewn there."

Cat gasped. "Is he alright?" she asked in concern.

"Yeah, he always gets back up; he's fine," the artist's sister assured her.

The quartet chatted a little longer; Carly became more genuinely content and happy talking with them as time wore on, though she still had to avert her eyes a little as Cat leaned closer to Freddie and hugged his arm. It wasn't lost on the blonde sat next to her and she made her feelings known, again, after the video chat concluded.

"You're still making it obvious," she warned.

"What do you mean?" Carly used her hand to sweep her long, brown hair out of her face and over her shoulder.

"Your jealousy about Cat and Freddie," Sam replied bluntly.

"Do you think _they_ noticed anything?" she asked in a small voice.

Sam paused for a moment. "Cat maybe does; that's one kitty who'd have sharp claws if she wanted to use them now she's growing up a little," she grinned. "But Freddie? I think he's snapped out of his puppy-dog crush so he isn't looking at you in that sort of a way; he just looks at her," she concluded slightly dreamily.

"Oh," the brunette huffed out before taking a deep breath and sighing, "I guess I just really miss the Freddie who would do anything for me and only me."

Sam suspected that her friend wasn't admitting the whole truth but she didn't feel in a position to press the matter; instead the blonde put a consoling hand on Carly's shoulder. "_That_ Freddie has gone," she said as nicely as she could. "The best you can do is to be friends with this one."

The other girl nodded sadly as she couldn't argue with her new housemate's words.

_Asphalt Café, Hollywood Arts High School_

_Wednesday, 15__th__ September 2010_.

"Hey Freddie, Eli," André set his bottle of water down at the gang's usual table and took a seat opposite the brown and blond-haired teenagers. Freddie looked up from his books and smiled at the songsmith. "So I was uh… wondering if you could help me with this tech theatre stuff," the musician continued, "I had my first class just before lunch and it all didn't make a lot of sense."

"No problem," he smiled, happy that he would get the chance to repay his friend a little for helping him to learn to play a couple of instruments (not only the keyboard, which he had picked as his mandatory instrument when he was accepted into the school but also the guitar, which they had started working on after he became proficient on the former as neither had wanted to give up a little more of the time they got to hang together). He took a quick bite of his meal before continuing, "We're meeting after school tomorrow before we go fencing, right?" André nodded his confirmation, "well we can do it then, either before, after or instead of the guitar lesson."

"Great," the dreadlocked teen dug in his bag for his own lunch as a high-pitched "Hi-iii!" announced the arrival of Cat, followed by a far less enthusiastic-looking Jade.

"Hey," Freddie smiled; his girlfriend squeezed into the seat next to him and the couple shared a quick kiss; the redhead was rather precariously perched on the metal bench, one of the perks of this was that Freddie had to wrap an arm around her to hold her steady. Eli glanced at the couple and their easy affection, feeling a little regretful that things never worked out between himself and the red velvet-haired girl, but at the same time happy for the two of them. Jade walked past them to sit on the boys' other side and began scanning the area for any sign of her man.

"Beck's not with you?" Freddie observed as a question; the gothic teen shook her head before brushing some of her hair, today sporting pink extensions, from her face.

"No, he's not in this class with us."

"Right, I think he's in theatre history with Tori," André volunteered.

"Oh right, isn't Robbie in that class with them?" Cat spoke up.

They wouldn't have long to wait for confirmation as the three teens arrived; Tori in particular looked troubled.

"How was it?" Jade asked her man as he took a seat next to her; Tori sat next to André with Robbie (and Rex) sitting on the side between Tori and Cat.

"It was detailed," he replied in his usual laid-back manner.

"It was _insane_," Tori protested, "there's so much to go through in a course that only runs for a few weeks, not even the whole semester!"

"Great, we have that to look forward to later on in the year," Jade muttered to Freddie.

"At least you'll be able to borrow Beck's notes; that should help you," he pointed out. She shrugged her acknowledgement.

"You can have mine once I'm done with the class," Tori offered him, receiving a grateful smile in return along with a slightly annoyed comment from André, who also would have liked the notes.

"Relax, I'll take a photocopy then we can both have a read of them," the tech genius offered.

The bell sounded for the end of lunch and he and Cat made their way to the music department. They were a little disappointed when the teacher began the class, informing them that everyone would be working as an individual for the first assignment. They would be required to sing rather than playing any instruments for it and could choose any song that they wanted, or write their own. Despite the success he and Jade had had in the past working on their own song, Freddie decided to pick something that was already written; he felt that he might struggle to write something by himself.

"You will be performing live at the kick-back in late October," the teacher informed the class; a number of the kids glanced nervously around, not having too much experience of public performance despite their two years of study at the school. Freddie and Cat, meanwhile, simply shrugged and shared a grin as they were both more than happy with such performances.

_Sikowitz's Classroom_

_Thursday, 16__th__ September 2010_.

"Wait!" the eccentric teacher called as the bell signalled the end of the lesson and his students began to file out. The teens obediently, if impatiently, turned to face him, waiting for whatever he had to say. "Freddie, Cat, hang back for a minute; the rest of you, off you go."

The couple hovered by the edge of the stage as their peers departed; when Sikowitz continued to stand there in silence Freddie shrugged and took a seat on the stage.

"So what's up?" Cat prompted before moving to sit next to her boyfriend.

"Oh, right," he seemed to snap out of whatever was distracting him, "your auditions for _Heart of Gold_ will be at lunchtime today."

"So… right now?" Freddie sought to clarify in surprise.

"I suppose so," the teacher exclaimed, seeming as amazed about it as they were; he reached into one of the drawers underneath his whiteboard and pulled out two scripts, handing them to the teenagers as they stood and turned to face him. "You'll read the parts highlighted," he clapped his hands rapidly as he continued, "Up you get!"

Freddie glanced through his script, paying particular attention to the blue-highlighted words; through the piece of paper his girlfriend was holding he could see large swathes had been coloured pink. He shrugged, reminding himself that seeing a script for the first time was no different to when they had _first_ auditioned for roles almost two years ago (albeit they had auditioned opposite other people) and, trying to use the script as little as possible, he climbed slowly onto the stage, stood facing his girl and prepared to begin the scene.

* * *

"How do you think it went?" he asked Cat as they left the room hand-in-hand a few minutes later.

"I thought it was great!" she enthused.

"Yeah, I didn't need to refer to the script _too_ much," he noted, "I wish I'd had a few more minutes to try and learn it all before we started though."

"I guess," she agreed with a small shrug. "Hey, have you heard any more from Sam? Did she get into a school?"

"Uh… yeah, she did," he confirmed. "She texted me last night while I was at work and she'll be starting Franklin High on Monday. I called her during my break and I'm not sure she's _really_ looking forward to it, especially as they're probably making her join the sophomore class rather than the juniors because she's been out of formal schooling so long…"

"How long?" Cat interrupted.

"Well she was home-schooled after being let out of juvie and that went on for over a year, during which time she doubts she learned _anything_ useful. She sat an aptitude test after the interview and she doesn't think it went too well; she said so afterwards which is why she thinks she'll be joining the year group below."

Cat nodded her understanding. "Well maybe that will be better for her and give her more chance of earning her diploma," she commented reasonably.

"Maybe, but it also means she needs to keep working for three years and not two; we'll see if she can do that," he added with a grin.

"Are you busy tonight?" she asked.

"André and I are hanging after school," he explained, "he wants me to help him with tech theatre and we'll maybe do a little more work on my instrument playing. After that we're going for our fencing classes but later on I'm all yours if you want to do something?"

"Sure, just head on over once you're done swashbuckling," she grinned.

_Music room_

It was a shorter lesson than normal for Freddie; he and André spent around three-quarters of an hour working on his guitar playing before downing their instruments and picking up the tech theatre books. As they were dividing time between the two, and sat in the music room, they would only be looking at the theory for tonight (having about another forty-five minutes before they needed to meet Beck at the fencing studio). It had been slow going to begin with but in the final five minutes Freddie gave his friend a quick quiz and, at last, he was comfortable with all the terms that they had been using.

"So how was it?" the former tech producer asked once they had packed everything away and were leaving the room.

"Better than I thought it would be," the musician confessed, "I get the basics now so hopefully when we look at some of the things in action in a couple of weeks I'll be able to get it all down."

"You should," Freddie reasoned, "people see all the gadgetry and all the buttons on the board and they panic, but there's really nothing complicated; it's like thinking a keyboard or a piano is hugely complicated because there are so many keys on it – but once you know which one you need to play to get which note it's not so scary."

"I guess," the dreadlocked teen replied weakly; he wasn't sure about the comparison but could at least see his friend's point.

_Valentine residence_

It was a weary Freddie Benson who rang the doorbell of his girlfriend's home; Cat's parents were out so she was sat in the living room with the TV on while she made a few notes on the song she planned to write for class.

"Ding dong," she muttered subconsciously in response as she lifted her head, before getting up and opening the door and being greeted by her smiling boyfriend. "Hi," she smiled back and gave him a hug, "how was sword fighting?"

"Really good thanks," he ran his free hand through his hair; Cat had seized the other and was leading him inside. Freddie intentionally caught the door with a swing of his foot and pushed it shut as they headed for the living area and sat together on the couch. "Beck's really improved after missing so much time with his injury last year, André's still working hard at it and me…" he shrugged modestly, "I'm enjoying it – I have some time sparring with some of the other experienced fencers and then I take a group of beginners for a class too. Usually it's quite young kids just starting out with it but that's fine; it means I get my membership for free so long as I teach a class for them."

Cat nodded politely before turning slightly on the couch so that the couple were facing one another; she gently framed Freddie's cheeks with her hands and pulled him into a deep kiss. There was no urgency for the pair as they enjoyed the pleasant contact; Cat moaned slightly against his mouth as Freddie slipped his arms around her back to pull her body closer against his own. They remained lost in their own, tranquil world as they made out – until Freddie's stomach growled audibly; it was something that his girlfriend found hilarious.

"I'm sorry," she panted between giggles, covering her mouth with her hand and trying desperately to control her laughter, "it was just so funny!"

"I didn't get to eat anything before we went to the studio," he defended himself lightly, "do you want to go out and get something?"

"I'm good," she replied with a trace of sadness, "we ate before mom and dad went to the theatre tonight," was her explanation. "There might be something in the fridge I could warm up for you," she offered.

Freddie shrugged and smiled his acceptance; after all they had the place to themselves and it wouldn't be as much fun going out for something to eat if he was the only one who was eating.

_Benson residence_

_Monday, 20__th__ September 2010_.

An unusual sensation was guiding Freddie into consciousness; as he emerged from his slumbers and his brain began to function again he could vaguely process a light, gentle pressure jumping across the left-hand side of his face (the right-hand side was resting against his pillow) along with a strange, almost tickling sensation by his ear and neck. The boy smiled at the pleasant sensation awakening him before his eyes shot open as he realised what he was feeling. He twisted his head to the left and saw the grinning face of his girlfriend less than an inch from his own; he managed to halt the movement of his neck as their noses gently bumped into one another and he scrambled to the right a little, retreating from the girl as she greeted him,

"Hi Freddie!" she declared in excited tones.

"Cat! What are you doing here?" he demanded in a shocked voice.

"I was so excited about the result of our auditions for the new play that I woke up early this morning… so I thought I'd come and say hi," she answered as if it all made perfect sense to do so.

"And my mom… she just let you in?" Freddie was incredulous that Marissa was happy for the girl to be in his room alone with him.

"She said I had to leave your bedroom door open but apart from that she was fine."

The tech producer found that hard to believe but opted against questioning his girl further, especially as she inched ever closer to him; he wriggled his left arm out from under the bed covers and slipped it around her as she snuggled next to his side. He closed his eyes, a feeling of absolute contentment welling within him.

"FREDDIE!" It wasn't to last long; Mrs Benson was calling loudly from the doorway. "It's time to get up and have some breakfast or you'll be late for school!"

He groaned but glanced at his clock, rather shocked to see that it was almost 8; he wasn't sure quite how early Cat had arrived but from the way her eyes were widening as she processed her surroundings it appeared that she'd fallen asleep again next to him.

He loosed his grip on the girl and she rolled off his bed, allowing him to get up; once he was upright she returned to his side and took his left hand in her right.

"I was expecting you down for breakfast almost an hour ago, since Cat arrived so early," Marissa commented.

"I guess we both fell asleep," he shrugged; the redhead nodded vigorously next to him. The head nurse turned on her heel and the young couple followed her downstairs to the kitchen.

"Would you like some breakfast, Cat?" Mrs Benson offered.

"Yes, please, I forgot to eat before I left," she replied, suddenly realising that that was indeed the case and smiling politely as a bowl was set before her; she helped herself to some of the muesli on the table and thanked Marissa for the cup of (decaffeinated) coffee that she was given.

"So what's happening today?" Mrs Benson asked her son.

"We've our singing class to carry on working on our songs for the kick-back," he began, thinking that he _really_ needed to choose one soon, "then we've got Sikowitz's class; hopefully he'll tell us whether or not we've won the roles that we auditioned for last week."

"I still think it's odd that a teacher lets his students call him just by his last name," the reddish-brown haired parent commented.

"Odd pretty much sums that guy up; you remember him from my audition right? Bald hair, looks like a hippie hobo?"

Marissa nodded; it was the moment when she wondered whether, despite what Freddie had found out about the school, he might have been better off at Northridge after all.

Once breakfast was over the teens left; Marissa had the first night shift of her current rotation this evening so she had a steady day planned in which she'd run a few errands before having an afternoon nap to prepare herself for a night at work.

_Main Hall, Hollywood Arts High School_

"Oh, someone's happy this morning," Jade called teasingly from her locker as she saw Cat and Freddie enter the school smiling broadly. Cat headed for her own locker and Jade sidled over to join the tech genius by his, keeping an eye out for Beck, who was running late this morning. "What's put _you_ in a disgustingly good mood," she joked.

"Little, red hair, giggles a lot," he smiled. "Let's just say being woken up by her was _infinitely_ better than the last time I woke up with a girl in the same bed."

"WHAT?" Jade yelped loudly; a large number of heads turned in their direction.

"I didn't mean _that_," he assured her in a low voice, trying to keep their conversation at least slightly private, "but Cat showed up early at mine this morning while I was still asleep and snuck into my room and woke me up. _Nothing happened_," he insisted; Jade nodded to show that she believed him, though she still made a mental note to have a little chat with Cat at some point during the day.

"Hey, sorry, sorry," Beck interrupted wearily as he worked his way through the throng of students to his girlfriend's side; he greeted her with a quick kiss to the cheek and she closed her eyes briefly as the contact relaxed her.

"Hey dude, you ok?" Freddie asked in concern, seeing his friend looking slightly less composed and collected than usual.

"Yeah, just the whole working life," he shrugged. "I had to work some overtime last night because we were short-staffed, so I was up late finishing the last of my homework that's due today, so I overslept a little this morning, hence…" he finished by gesturing towards himself.

"Well, so long as they pay you the extra for it," Freddie commented. The longer-haired boy nodded his agreement, though he felt that the extra money didn't really compensate for the inconvenience and lack of sleep that he had experienced as a result.

"Not a problem for me," André observed as he joined the gathering, having overheard the latter stages of the exchange, "it was quiet at _Yotally Togurt_ last night. In fact, the whole mall was quiet most of the evening; the boss sent me around the place with samples to entice customers and I could hardly find anyone."

"I'm not surprised," Freddie commented, "I was looking at the list of movies playing at _Green Meadow_ at the moment and there's not too many new ones that I'd want to see right now. If it's the same at the theatre at the Northridge mall then no wonder there are fewer people there on an evening."

André nodded. "I just hope it picks up a little bit soon," he whispered, slightly fearfully, "if not then Mr Mooney says he might have to cut back on people's hours; I don't _have_ a lot of hours to begin with."

The gang murmured sympathetically towards their friend as the bell rang and they began to go their separate ways; Freddie and Jade headed together towards their set design class.

"So how was _your_ weekend if Beck was busy a lot?" he asked.

"Oh, you know me," she began.

"Yes, I do, how was it?" he repeated with a grin.

"It was quiet, alright," she answered in defeat. "I mean it's great that Beck's doing well at work; I just wish I saw him a little more is all."

Freddie gave an understanding nod. "And his boss wouldn't like you being there and distracting him any more than mine would like Cat leaning against the brilliance bar for my entire shift."

"Right, so I just have to amuse myself."

"You could hang with Cat for the afternoon," he suggested with a smirk.

"She's my best friend, I love her, she's your girlfriend but – there's only so much Cat I can take when nobody else is around," the gothic teen stated. "And speaking of her, what's the whole story about this morning?" she challenged.

"I told you," his voice was calm as he opened the door to their classroom and gestured for her to enter before him, "I was asleep then suddenly she was waking me up. I'm surprised my mom let her in to be honest but there we go." He sniggered, "maybe she's still worried that I'll move out again if she upsets me."

"It looks like that has its uses," Jade commended.

The young couple received some good news at the end of Sikowitz's class, the final class of the day; the balding eccentric informed Freddie and Cat that they had won the leads in the play they had auditioned for and handed them the full scripts to begin their read-throughs.

"So, do you want to do a little rehearsal tonight when I get back from work?" Freddie asked as the two left the classroom. "My mom's working nights so we could practice at my place."

"Ok, text me as you're leaving work and I'll see you at your place," she suggested.

Freddie gave her a quick goodbye kiss. "I look forward to it," he grinned.

* * *

**AN: That's it for this chapter. Thanks for reading, please don't be shy about adding a review and I hope that you all return for the next chapter. PD.**


	24. Chapter 24: The Great Ping Pong Scam

**AN: Hi everyone; this chapter's a lot later out than I expected it to be as I got to the point a couple of weeks ago where I just felt in need of a total break from my writing. I hope to be getting back on with it going forwards now.**

**As always my thanks to everyone who read and reviewed last time. **

**Fanfic-Reader-88 – yes, Sam's "happily" in a new school; we'll see in time whether she can keep her new, improved attitude together I guess. As for the leads, there are a few plays going on (as we saw in **_**The Bird Scene**_** they have a list of plays each semester) so our favourite couple scored the leads in this one but there **_**are**_** some others.**

**Challenge King – yes Marissa let Cat in; maybe a little bit surprising but when she found the hyperactive girl on her doorstep, perhaps she feared that she would rouse the entire neighbourhood and make her rather unpopular with them. Who knows what goes through her head?**

**Darck Ben – thanks, I'm glad you enjoyed it.**

**Agent-M – thank you for your kind words.**

**And to Guest (who reviewed chapter 12) I hope you stuck with it as I **_**did**_** eventually get them back together.**

**I hope you all enjoy this chapter.**

* * *

Chapter 24: The Great Ping Pong Scam

_Hollywood Arts High School, Los Angeles, CA_

_Monday, 27__th__ September 2010_.

"What's got you annoyed?" Freddie asked calmly and sympathetically as Jade slammed her locker; the pairs of scissors that the gothic girl had decorated it with wobbled threateningly but did not come loose. She turned to him with an annoyed glare but Freddie knew his friend and confidant far too well to worry that _he_ was the cause of her ire. "Come on, talk to Freddie," he motioned to the main staircase and took a seat, turning expectantly to the blue-streak haired brunette.

Jade looked guardedly around the deserted hallway; the last period of the day had finished a few minutes ago and most of the kids had already left. Freddie was waiting for Cat as they wanted to do a little more rehearsing for their play before tomorrow's dress rehearsal; opening night was around a week away now. Beck was nowhere to be seen and the tech producer suspected that this was part of what was troubling his friend. She took a seat on the stairs next to him and sighed.

"Tori," she huffed; it would have been the brown-haired boy's second guess after she and Beck were cast opposite one another. "I just can't help it, I think she's enjoying being in a play with Beck _way_ too much…"

"You really think she'd make a move on your guy?" Freddie asked, genuinely surprised that Jade might think the situation was that serious.

"No," she conceded reluctantly, "it doesn't mean that I have to like seeing them together like that though."

"Well," he shrugged, "get used to it; actors and actresses do a lot of stage kisses," then he smirked as he reminded her, "like us about a year ago."

Jade looked off into the distance, hiding her smile at the memory and instead opting to shrug in resignation; she had to concede his point but really didn't want to do so publically.

"Hi-iii," Cat bounced into view as she passed the lockers and spotted her best friend and boyfriend sat together. She scampered over and squeezed herself between them before giving her boy a quick kiss.

"That's my cue to leave," Jade announced, getting to her feet. "I'll see you guys tomorrow."

"Oh you don't have to…" Freddie began but the girl was already striding purposefully away from them; he turned to the redhead, shrugged and smiled as he stole another kiss from her lips before they started their rehearsal.

_Asphalt café_

_Tuesday, 28__th__ September 2010_.

Freddie and Cat were playfully sharing their lunches; the giggly girl was laughing along with their antics while her boyfriend smiled. He slipped his left arm around her and she leaned her head against his chest as her right hand snatched another fry from his meal. She took another but, instead of eating it herself, lifted it above her head and pushed it backwards, trying to feed it to the brown-haired boy. Fortunately he closed his eyes before she could stab them with it.

"A little lower," he instructed teasingly after her first attempt, "a little more," as the fry poked his nose, "ah that's it," his last words were muffled by the morsel meeting its target.

"Hey, hey," Tori greeted them brightly as she, André and, to her annoyance, Trina joined them, sitting to Cat's left.

"Hello," Jade's tone was far flatter as she and Beck sat opposite the other couple.

"What's crawled up _your_ butt?" Trina wondered aloud; Jade declined to answer and merely glared at her before stabbing her salad ever harder with her fork. The elder sister looked to Beck for an answer but he just shrugged.

"Are you alright Jade?" her red-headed best friend asked in timid concern; the black-clad teen looked up from her mutilated meal and nodded.

"I will be," she confirmed quietly before returning her gaze to her plate; Cat looked to her man, who gave her a supportive smile and squeezed her a little tighter, causing her to grin and crane her neck for a quick kiss.

The rest of the lunchtime passed peacefully, though Freddie kept a watchful eye on his confidant; her body language certainly hinted that all wasn't well with her. Next to her Beck was either oblivious or uncaring – and the boy was troubled to conclude that he couldn't decide for certain which one it was.

Fortunately, he and Jade were together in their Set Design class right after lunch, giving him an opportunity to talk to her during the general hubbub of the workshop-like environment that resulted as the class were turning their dreams and drawings into reality.

"Are you _really_ ok?" he asked in a soft, low voice; she looked up, glanced around to ensure that they wouldn't be overheard, picked up her things and moved around to his side of the table, setting them down next to his.

"I'm alright," she insisted, "it's just… I don't know," she shrugged. "I try talking to Beck about stuff and he just seems to dismiss my feelings. I admit that I have to trust him but he doesn't make it easy when he has girls hanging around him, he's in this play with Tori… I know, I know," she raised her hands in partial surrender as Freddie turned to her; she didn't need him to plead the half-Latina's case again.

"So you talk to him, he knows it bothers you but he lets things carry on?" Freddie sought to clarify; Jade nodded sadly.

"I don't know, Jade, I don't know what to suggest except that you keep showing that you care about him and look for him to show that he cares as much about you; let his actions speak for him if he won't _say_ what you want him to."

She nodded. "I'll give it a try."

_Wednesday, 29__th__ September 2010_.

The first warning bell of the day was just beginning to sound as Tori made her way inside the main building of the school, intending to make a quick stop at her locker before heading to first period. She spotted Robbie, André, Cat and Freddie chatting by one of the vending machines next to the janitor's closet and turned to walk towards them. "Oh, hey," she greeted them.

"Oh, hey Tori," Cat smiled.

"How's it going?" Freddie enquired.

"What's up?" André added.

"Hey cheekbones!" Rex called; Tori pulled a face at the puppet.

"Well," she began, "after school I was thinking we should all go hang out at The Grove. You wanna-wanna?" she asked enthusiastically.

She didn't get the eager response that she was anticipating; on the contrary the quartet looked rather uncomfortable.

"Uhh," the songsmith floundered.

"Oooh," the puppeteer muttered.

"We really can't," Cat apologised.

"How come?" the brunette demanded.

"Well, uh, we have ping pong practice," Robbie explained.

"Uh-huh," the musician confirmed.

"Yeah, then I have work straight after practice," Freddie added.

"Shut up," Tori chided them playfully.

"It's true," André insisted.

"We're all on the ping pong team," the tech producer remarked.

"Me, André, Robbie, Freddie, Beck and jade," Cat clarified.

"There's no ping pong team at Hollywood arts," Tori countered; Freddie stepped over to her and took her arm gently.

"Listen, Tori, you're still kinda new here and there's some things that you haven't come across."

"Look, if you guys don't wanna hang out with me then just say so. Why make up a lie that you're all on some ping pong team?" she snapped.

"Hey, Tori," Cat repeated her earlier greeting.

"How's it going?" Robbie asked weakly.

"What's up?" André enthused.

Freddie, on the other hand, was annoyed with her allegation. "You REALLY think I'd lie to you like that - or not want to hang?" he demanded; Tori gave him an awkward, apologetic look.

"Okay, so there really IS a ping pong team?" she sought confirmation.

"Yeah, go to the rec room; you can see all the trophies we've won," he pointed out.

Cat nodded to back up her boy. "First place."

"Really?" Their prowess surprised the singer.

"Yeah," the red velvet-haired girl insisted.

"In fact, we have the big tournament this Friday; I've swapped my shift at work to make sure I can go," Freddie shot a conspiratorial look at Cat, who smiled back.

"Okay. Then I wanna try out for the team," Tori enthused.

"Sure, if you want to try out for the ping pong team then you just have to talk to the team captain," the former Seattleite explained.

"Fine. Who's the team captain?"

"I am!" Jade, with Beck on her arm, had just joined the gathering. Without waiting for another word from the newest student she called "Later guys," waved and the couple headed towards their first class.

"Or you can join my team. I call it Rex's all hot chick volleyball squad," the puppet offered unhelpfully.

Tori withdrew the gum she was chewing from her mouth and stuck it to Rex's forehead. "Yeah. No," she declined and set off in pursuit of Beck and Jade as the others grimaced a little at the sight.

"Tori!" Robbie called after her in annoyance.

"Just get it off my nose. Snatch it off," Rex urged him; his handler obeyed, only to find that it didn't all come off. "Aw, man, it's the stretchy kind," the puppet complained. Cat giggled at them as she took Freddie's hand and they set off for their own first period.

* * *

"Jade, Jade, Jade," Tori was giving chase; the other girl was deliberately ignoring her, much to her boyfriend's curiosity. "I'm not going away," she caught up to the couple. "And you can't just say no."

Jade stopped in her tracks and turned to the other girl. In a variety of voices and pitches she replied, "No. No. No. No. No. No," and finished, in a firm, harsh voice, "No."

Beck raised eyebrows at her insistent intransigence. "Why not?" he mouthed; Jade ignored him and turned back to the half-Latina.

"Alright, well, you can," she conceded before she spotted Lane coming down the corridor towards them. "Lane, can you come here please?" she called. "Don't move," she warned the team captain.

Jade smiled at her boyfriend, "I'm staying here because I want to stay here." He gave her a quick kiss before heading for his class.

"What's up?" the Guidance Counsellor asked.

"Jade is the captain of the ping pong team and I wanna try out; and she says I can't," Tori explained.

"Yup, that's what I says," Jade retorted calmly as she joined the pair.

"Oh, come on," the adult complained. "Why do you all have to drag me into your problems?"

"Uh, you're the Guidance Counsellor here," Tori reminded him. "Can we have some guidance?"

"Alright," he surrendered; Tori turned to her phone to bring up the school website; while she was looking away he drew a bottle from his pocket and began to apply lotion to his hands.

"Alright, I've already got it loaded in here," she turned back, giving him a curious look as she spotted his antics; it was a look matched by the one Jade wore.

"Okay, what?" he snapped in exasperation.

"See, look what it says on the official Hollywood Arts website," the lighter brunette showed him the display on her phone.

"My life is slipping away!" Jade complained.

"Read it," Tori demanded.

"All students are encouraged to participate in school sanctioned events, clubs and sports teams," the counsellor quoted.

"And how can I participate in ping pong if the team captain here refuses to even let me try out?" the singer asked.

"You gotta let her try out," Lane told Jade.

"Yeah, read the phone Jade, read the phone," Tori waved it in her sometimes-friend's face.

"Sure, you can try out," the black-clad teen relented with a smirk, "I just wanted to see you grovel and squirm for a bit first." She turned and headed for class, grin still in place, leaving an annoyed and stuttering Tori in her wake. "Rec room, right after school," she called as a parting shot.

_Asphalt café_

"André," Freddie sought to attract the songsmith's attention as he and Cat joined him at their usual table.

"Oh hey man, how's it going?"

"Good but… I was just wondering how the music for the play we're in," he gestured to himself and his girlfriend, "is coming along? Obviously formal rehearsals are starting and we're going to need to get the songs done as well."

"Uh we're just about ready," he informed them. "The guys in the band have just about got it down so we'll be at your next rehearsal and you guys can get on with learning them. You got the lyrics right?"

"Yeah but no tune for them," Cat piped up.

"I'll fix that," he promised.

"Yay," she clapped happily.

_Rec Room_

To Jade's surprise, and annoyance, Tori actually turned out to be a very good player when she joined their practice (and made it into a _proper_ practice rather than an excuse to play retro party games); to André and Robbie's annoyance she beat both boys (and Rex) before quickly beating Cat; the redhead seemed terrified of the power that the singer could put into her serve. She struggled a little against Beck and Jade but defeated both before meeting her match in Freddie; the fencer's speed and footwork proved too much for her to contend with and she set down her bat, exhausted from her efforts.

"Good game," Freddie complimented and she smiled at her opponent before turning to the team captain, who had risen to her feet.

"Well?" Tori demanded confidently.

"You didn't make the team," the gothic girl stated bluntly.

"What? I beat almost everybody," she argued.

"I don't care. Read the school website," the blue-streak haired girl urged, proffering her phone.

"When a student tries out for a sports team for which there is no coach," Tori quoted, "the team Captain shall decide if the student is granted or denied acceptance to the team."

"Captain says denied," Jade smiled.

"But why? You can't just –" the other girl stammered; Jade took a leaf from her book and waved her pear phone in the lighter brunette's face.

"Read the phone, Tori," she mocked. "Read the phone."

"Don't you steal my phone-in-face bit," Tori whispered threateningly before storming out of the rec room.

"What was that all about?" Beck asked his girl.

"It's safer this way," Jade explained. "I'm not saying she'd snitch on us but the fewer people who know about... all of this, the better."

Freddie looked a little sceptical but nodded his agreement with the sentiment.

_Thursday, 30__th__ September 2010_.

Rather than ping pong, the kids were playing twister. Beck was spinning for them while Jade, Cat, Freddie, André and Robbie were at close quarters on the mat; the redhead in particular was enjoying this as they pressed herself as close to her boyfriend as she could, loving the fact that she was making him squirm a little.

"Here we go," Beck called as he spun the dial again.

"Yeah," Robbie smiled.

"Oh, my God," André wailed.

"Man, this is the best ping pong practice ever," Freddie enthused, nudging the ventriloquist a little.

"I love this game!" Cat cried.

"Wait. Wait, wait," Robbie urged as he felt the tech producer pushing him. "Don't lean on me," he complained before overbalancing, bringing the other teens down on top of him. "Oh. That was a foul!"

"You're foul," the songsmith joked.

"Oh, that tickles Freddie!" Cat giggled as his breath blew against her neck; he swooped to steal another kiss, intensifying her giggles.

"Okay, let's start over," Jade had extricated herself from the pile.

"Alright," her boyfriend agreed, offering the spinner to someone else.

"Okay, okay," Freddie accepted it.

"Wait. Let me get a drink first," André requested.

"Yeah, me too," Cat agreed, standing behind the dreadlocked teen and waiting for her turn.

"Ah," Robbie groaned as he stood up.

"What's wrong?" the redhead looked over.

"I think I pulled a muscle."

"You can't pull what you don't have," Jade pointed out.

Beck fed a bill into the vending machine; nothing happened. "What up with this machine? It ate my dollar."

"Alright, let the doctor handle this," the musician strode over and punched the machine.

"Go doc," Beck urged.

"Guys, guys, try rocking it," Jade suggested; the three of them began to rock the machine back and forth; suddenly it overbalanced.

"Whoa," Beck leapt back to avoid it landing on him; as it fell over, a high-pitched shriek could be heard by them all.

"Did that machine just scream like a teenage girl?" André asked in confusion.

The teens watched in surprise as the back of the 'machine' (which was now facing the ceiling) buckled as it was pounded upon from within; their surprise multiplied ten-fold as Tori forced her way through it. "Alright," she demanded, "who put me in the soda machine?"

After the initial shock subsided, Beck and Freddie made their way over to her and proceeded to lift the girl out. As the boys righted her on the floor she began to swat them away, "I got it. I got it. Buzz off!" she complained.

"Why were you hiding in there spying on us?" Robbie asked in annoyance.

"And how did you get in there anyway?" Freddie wondered.

"Oh I had Sinjin make a fake prop for me," she snapped.

"Why?"

"'cause I had a feeling you guys' ping pong team was just a big fake and I was right. You weren't practicing ping pong, you were playing retro party games. So what is up?"

The other teenagers all remained silent, looking innocently around for a few seconds before André caved.

"Let's just tell her," he whined.

"No," Jade snapped.

"Yes," her boyfriend contradicted; Freddie raised his eyebrows in surprise.

"I think we should tell her," Cat backed them up; the tech producer shrugged.

"We can trust her, I'm sure," he conceded.

"Why don't we just drive her out to the desert and drop her off?" Rex suggested.

"Rex!" Robbie was scandalised at the suggestion.

"She knows too much!" the puppet claimed.

Outnumbered, Jade huffed out in a resigned voice, "tell her."

"There's no real ping pong team," Freddie admitted.

Tori pointed in his direction and uttered a triumphant "HA!" before adding, in a confused voice, "then what's this all about?"

"Well," André took up, "it all started two years ago when the school put that ping pong table in this room."

"Just after Freddie and I first kissed," Cat chimed in amid copious giggles.

Tori looked towards Freddie; he smiled awkwardly and shrugged.

"We just walked in, and there it was," Jade explained. "Then Robbie suggested that we form an official ping pong team here at Hollywood arts to compete against other schools... so I slapped him hard on top of his head."

"It really hurt," the puppeteer complained; Tori looked at him in disdain. "It really hurt!" he repeated.

"I heard that," the brunette pointed out. "So?"

"So about the same time," Freddie continued, "Cat was all pumped up about some fancy restaurant that her parents had taken her to one weekend."

"They had amazing steaks and crab cakes and lobster mashed potatoes and classy live music, and the most insane desserts I had ever tasted," Cat had said.

"Which all sounded pretty good to us," her tech producer boyfriend noted.

"So I said, 'well, we gotta go there,'" Robbie reminisced.

"And I told Robbie there was no way we could go there 'cause it's really expensive," the redhead interjected sadly.

"Where is this story going?" Tori complained.

"It actually gets weirder," Beck noted.

"You see, when Cat told us that the restaurant was too expensive..." Freddie took up before Jade interrupted.

"…I remembered something Beck had told me about all the sports teams at Hollywood arts getting a minimum of $1,500 to pay for travel and equipment. And that's when I got the idea. I said, 'maybe we should form a fake ping pong team, take the 1,500 bucks and use the money for all of us to have a fancy dinner at the restaurant Cat told us about.'"

"At first, we thought Jade's idea was crazy," André added. "But after we exchanged some looks..."

"We started to think it might be a pretty cool idea," Cat smiled.

"Apart from me," Freddie clarified, "I _really _wasn't too comfortable with the whole thing."

"But then Robbie said, 'wait' and reminded everyone that all sports teams are required to have at least one faculty advisor," the long-haired actor commented.

"So we went to the only teacher we could trust; Sikowitz", the dread-locked songsmith told her.

Cat was the next to speak; "But he told us our plan was way too devious – and illegal."

André continued, "But then he said, 'hey, did you hear that Principal Eikner might get fired?'"

He left it there, causing Tor to turn to Freddie. "Help me," she urged.

"See, the principal's boss..." the former Seattleite started to explain.

"The superintendent," Rex clarified.

"...was mad 'cause Hollywood arts didn't have any winning sports teams," the brown-eyed boy continued as if the puppet hadn't interrupted.

"And he told Principal Eikner, 'at least one team better bring home a trophy this year or else you're fired,'" Beck informed the new student.

"Which I thought was, and still think is, ridiculous," Freddie complained. "We're a Performing Arts school so who cares if we suck at sports?"

Robbie interrupted to continue the tale, "So I said to Sikowitz, what if the six of us..."

"Seven," Rex corrected.

"Seven of us pretend to go to a ping pong tournament, take the 1,500 bucks the school gives us..."

"Use 400 of it to buy a nice trophy for the school..." André had suggested.

"Which would keep Principal Eikner from getting fired..." Cat had interjected.

Jade had flattered the balding teacher, "and then use the rest of the money to take our favourite teacher to the restaurant Cat told us about..."

"and have the most amazing dinner of our lives," Robbie's mouth had been watering.

"And then," Jade concluded, "Sikowitz was on board."

Tori looked from one to another as the pieces fell into place. "So you guys formed a fake ping pong team so you could get some money, buy a trophy for the school, save the Principal's job and take Sikowitz out for a big, fancy dinner?" she sought confirmation.

"Yeah, I guess we could have just told it that way," André conceded.

The brunette remembered Freddie's comments about his misgivings. "So what persuaded you?" she asked.

"Cat and I were dating, first time around," on cue the redhead began to giggle again, "at the time and Jade helpfully reminded me that my allowance would never stretch to taking her there." Jade smirked at him, recalling the pitiful allowance that Freddie once had to exist on, before turning seriously to Tori.

"So, are you gonna bust us now and ruin everything?" she challenged.

"No," the lighter brunette denied, before adding, "if..."

"If what?" the darker brunette asked in resignation.

_Asphalt Café_

_Friday, 1__st__ October 2010_.

The 'team' was preparing to leave school, ostensively en route to their tournament; the kids and Sikowitz were dressed in their Hollywood Arts-branded track-suits, all wore black track-suit pants with the boys also in black tops; the girls' uniform was a light blue top instead. A moderately sized gathering of students had assembled to wish them well; some held banners and placards with slogans such as "Ping pong rules". A collection of cheerleaders stood at the front of the group of well-wishers.

"And I'm very proud," the eccentric teacher declared, "to announce the newest member of the Hollywood Arts ping pong team, Tori 'the paddlepus' Vega."

The brunette ran out in the same light blue top and black pants as Cat and Jade.

"Now," Sikowitz continued, "wish us all luck and hopefully we'll bring home yet another first place trophy for Hollywood Arts."

The students cheered. Some of the cheerleaders waved at Freddie and Beck, much to the annoyance of their respective girlfriends.

"All team members in my van," the teacher ordered; he took the crowd's adulation as he led them to the vehicle. "Thank you. Thank you."

"Hey, look at that; shag carpeting," Rex complimented as he and Robbie boarded.

Jade's mild annoyance with the new member of the 'team' had been a point of discussion throughout the previous day; she had confided in Freddie that she and Beck had argued about it a little on Wednesday evening, not least because Beck had been late home due to rehearsing the play he was in – with Tori. The long-haired actor had demanded to know what his girl's problem was with their classmate and actually accused her of not trusting him around her; it was a charge that had infuriated his gothic girlfriend and brought an early, and unsatisfactory, end to their planned evening together. It wasn't that she had a problem with Tori _per se_, she had insisted to the ex-Seattle resident, more that she had been effectively blackmailed into accepting her as a new member of the team.

The tech producer had offered to talk to Beck for her and took the opportunity during their fencing class that evening.

"_Jade's not too happy_," _he began conversationally as the two watched André duelling; the Canadian-born actor had finished his own lesson and Freddie had concluded the one with the group he was leading._

"_Well that makes two of us,_" _Beck replied wearily, _"_I just don't get the problem that she has with Tori_."

_Freddie took a breath as he pondered his words; he wasn't too sure exactly what he should say to the other boy, feeling that Beck really _should_ be understanding his girlfriend a lot more than he seemed to_.

"_Well_," _he commented, thankful that he could at least mention something a little more generic than discussing their relationship_, "_she doesn't like that Tori forced her hand with this whole ping pong thing; I think, like the try-out, she was just going to make her squirm for a bit and then invite her along, but she feels that she was brow-beaten into it. And you KNOW that Jade doesn't like being brow-beaten into anything_."

"_I know that_," _Beck replied with a grin_.

"_And then there's you being in a play with her; she gets that it's acting, that it's not real but I think on some level it still troubles her_."

"_That's crazy!_" _the taller teen complained._

"_Maybe, but it's how she feels; maybe she just needs a little more reassurance from you from time to time,_" _he suggested; Beck squared his jaw and looked thoughtfully across at their friend continuing his bout_.

_Maestro's restaurant_

"So you're definitely getting the trophy then," Freddie confirmed with Jade as they entered the fancy restaurant.

"_Got_ it," she corrected with a smile. "Mom texted me a few minutes ago; a parcel from _trophyocity dot com_ arrived today."

"Ok, that can come in on Monday and take pride of place in the trophy cabinet, along with our others," he grinned.

"Yep, first place, three years in a row; how _do_ we manage it?"

"It's easier when we're not competing against anyone else," Beck pointed out.

"Oh yeah."

The group were shown to their table; Sikowitz was at the head with André next to him, followed by Beck, Jade, Robbie (and Rex), Tori, Cat and Freddie. After a quick stop en route the group, other than Tori, had changed into smarter clothes; the lighter brunette was still in her ping pong uniform.

As their meals were being served, Freddie made an observation. "They usually have live music here," he noted, "they have done on our other visits."

"Oh yeah, the girl who sang a few weeks ago was _really_ good," Cat agreed.

"Wait, you came here recently?" Jade asked in surprise.

"Yeah, we brought Carly and Sam the day after the party before they headed back north," he disclosed.

"How are they?" Cat asked curiously; she hadn't been in a video chat with the girls for the last couple of weeks as her own workload began to pile up.

"They're fine, still working out how to live in the same apartment," Freddie grinned as he thought back on a couple of the stories the girls had told him, "Sam's doing well at her new school and Carly's really loving being back at Briarwood. As you know she's back on _iCarly_ too; the last couple of shows have been pretty good."

Jade nodded; she hadn't seen any of their web shows, though Cat had watched them with her boyfriend and had also been enthusing about the recent efforts of the two. Any lingering annoyance that she may have felt about the other couple coming to the restaurant without her evaporated when she took the first bite of her meal.

"Oh, my God," the dark brunette moaned.

"Oh," André echoed.

"Oh my God, best food ever," Tori enthused, sampling her first taste of a Maestro's meal.

"Right?" Cat agreed.

"_So_ good," Freddie savoured his steak.

Beck stood, raising his soda and toasting, "To ping pong."

"To ping pong," the group chorused.

"To the pong to the ping," Jade smiled.

Tori's unusual attire attracted the attention of a number of other patrons; a couple of older ladies, who stood by the door behind Sikowitz, were looking and pointing in the girl's direction.

"I can't believe what she's wearing," one observed, loud enough to be overheard by the brunette.

"Yes, I'm wearing a ping pong uniform," the irked girl snapped; the women fled from the restaurant in response to her shout.

"How could you not think to bring a fancy dress to this place?" Freddie asked with a smile and a shake of his head.

"I don't know. I just didn't, okay?" she snapped back in annoyance.

"You said you reminded everyone to bring nice clothes," Beck commented to his girlfriend.

"I did," she confirmed.

"You didn't remind me," Tori pointed out.

"Oh right, I meant to call you but then my mom reminded me that my favourite movie was about to start and I forgot," she ran a hand through her dark hair as she remembered why she hadn't called the other girl. "Sorry," she added in a genuine tone.

"How's everyone doing?" the smiling waitress enquired as she made her rounds of the restaurant; the teens groaned in appreciation of the quality of the food.

"Oh."

"It's so good."

"It's amazing."

"Good. Good, good." Satisfied, she made to leave the table to check on other patrons.

"Oh, wait, ma'am," Robbie called her back.

"Yes?" she prompted politely.

"What is this awesome dip?" he gestured to a tiny bowl in his hand.

"That's caviar."

"It's fantastic," the puppeteer enthused. "Can I get a big bowl of it?"

"A big bowl?" she asked, to confirm that she was hearing him correctly.

"Yeah, like a bowl for soup, but filled with this caviar stuff?"

"Ah, sure. I'll bring that right to your table."

"You're very kind," he told her; she gave him an odd look as she departed, only to be replaced by the duty manager.

"Is everyone happy tonight?" he asked them.

"Oh, it's wonderful," they chorused.

"How is your drink, sir?" he asked their teacher.

"Very moist. Thank you," Sikowitz replied.

A blonde member of staff interrupted them, informing him that "two more people are complaining there's no live music."

"So offer them a free dessert."

"I did. They're still upset."

"Excuse me," he apologised and left to deal with the dissatisfied customers.

"Here you are," the waitress had returned with Robbie's soup bowl full of caviar.

"Oh, thank you, dear," he said gratefully and began to enjoy it.

Tori, meanwhile, was taking her turn in fending off Cat's theory about one of the menu items.

"Are you sure?" the redhead asked.

"Yes. They can't grow lobster-flavoured potatoes," she insisted.

"I've had this conversation with her for the last two years," Freddie told the brunette sympathetically, while placing a placating hand on his girl's arm.

* * *

"Uh," André groaned over his dessert. "Uhhh- Uh, it's so good, but I'm so full."

"Come on, man up," Beck urged him. "Here we go." The long-haired teen filled a fork with his friend's dessert and began to feed it to him. "Oh, there it is. There it is. That's nice, isn't it? Just..."

"Thank you," the songsmith breathed.

"Breathe through it," the actor urged.

"You're a good friend," the musician complemented him.

Cat, wielding strawberry on her fork, was still espousing her theories to the brunette singer. "Okay. What if, like, a farmer planted a lobster and a potato in the same hole? Maybe it would grow a lobtato." She giggled at the idea and the term.

Freddie gave his friend a meaningful look; Tori sighed in resignation.

"Yes, Cat, a lobtato would grow. I'll tell the farmers."

Feeling vindicated, Cat nodded happily and returned to her dessert.

One of the waiters, meanwhile, visited Sikowitz; "Here's your check," he told the teacher.

"Thank you," he accepted it before taking the last mouthful of his own dessert; the eccentric acting teacher looked at the check and spat out his last morsel out again. "What the hair bones?" he yelped.

"What?" Jade asked curiously, confused by his reaction.

"It's $1,300!"

"What?" Freddie was stunned by the cost.

"It's never been over 700," Cat pointed out.

"Way to go, Tori," Jade snapped.

"I ordered the same thing you did," the lighter brunette pointed out to her rival.

"Wait, wait, I see the problem. They mistakenly charged us an extra $600 for caviar," Sikowitz observed.

Robbie looked somewhere between sheepish and horrified. "Oh," he whispered as his friends relaxed, knowing that the 'problem' was soon to be solved.

"Excuse me, sir?" the balding adult called.

"Hi. Is anything wrong?" the manager from earlier came over.

"Yes. We were mistakenly charged for $600 worth of caviar."

"Oh, that's not a mistake," the waitress from earlier interrupted. "That awkward young man ordered a large bowl of caviar." All eyes turned accusingly to Robbie.

"Man, what were you thinking?" he demanded of Rex.

"I didn't order any caviar," the puppet defended.

"Robbie!" Cat complained.

"I didn't know it was that expensive," he argued.

"What are you talking about?" André demanded as the others began to squabble among themselves.

Sikowitz called over them, "Alright, alright, alright! Hush. Robbie can't help what he is. Nevertheless," he told the restaurant staff nervously, "we don't have enough money to pay the check."

"Well, sir, I'm sorry, but payment is required, or I'm going to have to call the police," the manager replied.

"The police?" he gasped amid renewed bickering from his charges.

"Oh, no," Jade muttered.

"I'm sorry," Robbie shouted.

"Jail?" Cat wailed.

"I am not going to jail," André declared matter-of-factly.

Amid the confusion Sikowitz quietly got up from the table and ran off, leaving the restaurant by the door behind him.

"Hey!" Freddie shouted after the teacher but the balding man refused to stop.

"Claude. Claude," the restaurant's owner strode over to the manager; he wasn't happy.

"Yes, Mr. Conrad?" Claude turned to his boss.

"Where is the live music?" he demanded.

"Well..."

"I thought Perry and Jordan were performing."

"There was a golfing accident," Claude explained. "Perry took a ball to the head."

"And you didn't book another music act?" the owner was fuming.

"I didn't find out until 4:30," the manager defended himself.

"People come here for classy, live music. Do you know how many customers are complaining?"

"Sir, I didn't have the time—" Claude began.

"Uh, guys, guys," Tori interrupted them, "I think I may be able to fix both our problems here." She turned to Jade and whispered, "Give me your dress."

Jade, who was still finishing her dessert, turned to the other girl as if she was crazy. Through a mouthful of food she asked, "what?"

"Give me your dress," the lighter-haired girl repeated.

Still eating, the gothic teen gestured to her outfit, "this one?"

"Why can't Jade just sing?" Freddie asked casually, while scanning the back of the property for any sign of the runaway teacher.

Tori floundered a little at the question but replied, "Well, it's a song that André wrote and I've practiced with him. I'm not sure Jade knows it…"

Jade swallowed her morsel then added, in a bored voice, "hey if she wants to sing for our supper, I'm game." The two girls rose from the table and headed for the ladies' room.

* * *

The Slap Mobile

Tori Vega: Jade's dress feels warm.

Mood= Tuneful

* * *

André sat behind the piano; Tori leaned over it as the musician began the introduction to the piece.

"_Ah, ah, oh_,"

Tori joined in and together they sang, "_yeah, yeah_,"

Tori continued alone, "_the situation turned around_," and as she sang she began to walk around the stage. "_Enough to figure out_ _that someone else has let you down,_"

André made the next couple of lines a duet, "S_o many times, I don't know why,_" before Tori continued alone,

"_But I know we can make it, as long as you say it, so tell me that you love me, yeah,_"

The waiter who was standing nearby helped the girl onto a stool, from there she took a seat on top of the piano and continues, "and tell me that I take your breath away."

André joined in with, "_And maybe if you take one more, then I would know for sure, there's nothing left to say_,"

"_Tell me that you love me anyway,_" Tori concluded the chorus.

Cat, sitting next to Freddie; her boyfriend's arm wrapped around her, gave an enthusiastic cheer, "Whoo!" at the performance.

"Owww!" Robbie joined in.

The waiter, meanwhile, helped Tori to climb back down from the piano. "_So tell me that you love me anyway,_" the half-Latina sang.

"_Whoa, oh, oh, oh, oh_," she and her songsmith friend added; Tori began walking around the restaurant singing to and gently, slightly flirtatiously, interacting with the other diners.

"_Waking up beside yourself_," she continued, "_and what you feel inside is being shared with someone else_,"

"_Nowhere to hide I don't know why_," she and the pianist sang before she continued alone,

"_But I know we can make it as long as you say it_,"

André joined in as they began the chorus again, "_So tell me that you love me, yeah, and tell me that I take your breath away, and maybe if you take one more then I would know for sure_…"

Sikowitz, seeing things were somewhat calmer inside, sneaked back inside and rejoined the group's table; Freddie threw a filthy look in his direction as he spotted him.

"_There's nothing left to say, tell me that you love me anyway_," his friends continued oblivious to the teacher's reappearance.

Tori was helped back onto the piano and leaned towards André as she sang alone, "_show me, look what we found_,"

"_It's turning around every day_," he sang with her before she continued alone,

"_I can hear what you say,_"

"_Now I know why, I know we can make it_," they sang together before she offered her hand to the waiter and was helped down to the floor again. "_If you tell me that you love me, yeah_, _and tell me that I take your breath away,_" she sang, gently pulling Cat's hand as she walked past the red-head, who grinned in delight. Tori then blew Freddie a kiss as she passed him; he smiled, Jade frowned.

"_And maybe if you take one more_," she touched the gothic teen's shoulder; Jade glared at her and she backs off quickly, "_So tell me that you love me, yeah, and tell me that I take your breath away._" She moved to stand behind André and they continues, "_and maybe if you take one more then I would know for sure,_"

"_There's nothing left to say but tell me that you love me anyway_," she concluded, heralding enthusiastic applause from the remainder of her group and all of the patrons.

"That was fantastic," Freddie complimented her as she sat down and she patted his arm gratefully.

"I like the dress," Jade goaded playfully; Tori threw her a sarcastic smile and turned to talk to the tech producer and his girlfriend.

Mr Conrad returned to their table, having finally found a new live music act to perform for the remainder of the evening. He spoke to Sikowitz and agreed to take the cash that the group still had and, along with Tori and André's performance, call it even. With some relief the group got up from the table and left the restaurant.

"What's up with you?" Jade asked, seeing the dark look on Freddie's face as they headed for their teacher's van.

"Sikowitz," he said simply, "did you see him run off after that Claude guy mentioned calling the police? He was going to just leave us there and save his own skin – some chaperone and _responsible adult_ he is," the boy spat out in disgust. "If he wasn't our ride I'd have called him out here and now; I guess it can wait until class next week."

"I wonder what they'll do once we graduate and there are no more trophies won, probably new players wanting to join the 'team'; do you think the whole thing just unravels?" Jade commented thoughtfully.

"Maybe; if it does they'll probably blame Sikowitz," he brightened. "It's a shame we won't get to see that."

Jade and Cat exchanged looks; again this was a side of Freddie that they weren't used to seeing, one that had manifested ever since his 'issues' with Lindsey and a side that he was showing towards someone the girls considered to be their favourite teacher. While they (Jade especially) could agree with his main point, and his annoyance towards the guy, the underlying anger he was showing worried them. Happily for the dark-haired teen, she was to have a welcome distraction as Beck leaned over to her.

"Hey," he whispered, "want to come to the RV when we get back? Have a little you-and-me time after all of this?"

"Sure," she smiled, closing her eyes as he planted a soft kiss on her cheek. _Just maybe_, she thought, _things aren't too bad for us after all_. Cat, meanwhile, watched Freddie closely, wondering if, despite his relaxed posture, things still weren't quite right for him.

* * *

**AN: Thanks for reading; I hope to see you all for the next chapter.**


	25. Chapter 25: Freak the Freak Out

**AN: Hello everyone and welcome back for the latest chapter of A Place To Call Home. I hope you're all well and have had a good week.**

**As ever, thank you to everyone who read and, especially, reviewed the last chapter.**

**KoiChoco – thank you; Dark Freddie is something of a challenge as it's not a side that was really seen on the show. I think, though, that it's a realistic response to a lot of the things that have happened to him over the past couple of years.**

**Fanfic-Reader-88 – Beck and Jade always had an odd relationship in canon; she got jealous and possessive (personally I feel it was highlighting her insecurities and maybe fearing that he'd prefer someone else to 'the mean girl') and he did nothing to reassure her – in fact he often played on them. As for Sikowitz bailing on them when something kicks off; the guy has form for it as he did the same thing in the feature length episode "Locked Up".**

**Darck Ben – thanks.**

**Challenge King – similar to earlier, yes. Jade's feelings often get side-lined. She and Freddie **_**are**_** there for one another and have a deep connection. I don't think it's a romantic love – more of a brother/sister thing but I don't doubt that, in this story, they love each other on some level.**

**Pbow – you would think that someone would want to watch the winning team, wouldn't you? It would appear not though, otherwise of course, people would have cottoned on to the scam.**

**I think Jade and Cat are concerned because they don't see this as being the Freddie that they know and love and they want that Freddie back.**

**Agent-M – thanks and here's what happens next.**

**One last thing; One Horse Shay has updated iGuess We're Roomies in recent days and promised me another update soon so please check out that story too.**

* * *

Chapter 25: Freak the Freak Out

_Asphalt Café, Hollywood Arts High School,_

_Los Angeles, CA_

_Wednesday, 3__rd__ November 2010_.

Cat and Tori were sitting together at the kids' usual table in the school's lunch area. The redhead was her usual giggly self and, with the pair deep in discussion, the shorter girl's mood was infectious.

"So let me get this straight," Tori sought to clarify, "_Mark McCallen_ wants my number?"

"Yeah, he's in one of your classes isn't he?"

"Yes, we're in theatre history together," the brunette confirmed.

"Right, well he's in science and maths with Freddie and me," the cupcake lover explained, "and he asked me if he could get your number. So, what should I say?"

"YES!" the excited brunette almost screamed. "Oh my God, he is _insanely_ hot and everyone says he's an awesome kisser!"

"Maybe you'll find out," her friend observed with a conspiratorial smile.

"Hey ladies, how are my girls today?" Freddie asked as he and Jade joined them; the dark brunette raised a quizzical eyebrow at the boy's question.

"Oh hey," his girlfriend smiled, "we were just talking about Mark McCallen wanting Tori's number and what an awesome kisser her is," she finished with a shy giggle.

Freddie's smile faltered for a second at the way Cat was talking so exuberantly about another guy; Jade spotted his reaction and smirked.

"Somebody's jealous," she whispered teasingly, loud enough for only him to hear. He turned to glare at her; the gothic brunette simply folded her arms across her chest and broadened her smile.

_Friday, 5__th__ November 2010_.

The change in Tori's mood from the previous couple of days was evident for all to see; Freddie sat with her at their table in the café over lunchtime, having not shared any classes with her during the morning. He was expecting her to be excited about a potential date over the weekend (he himself was looking forward to hanging with Cat and Jade this evening, when he got off work, at some new club that they'd heard of) so he was surprised and concerned to see her looking so miserable.

"Cat said he was gonna call me, but I really didn't think he'd call me. Then he called me!" she began, some excitement returning to her voice as she reminisced on the previous night; her face fell a little as she continued, "And Trina answered my phone – I was washing my hair last night – and she jacked my date! And now _she_ can't even go on it because she'd getting her wisdom teeth out."

Freddie winced. "Ouch, I would not want to be her this weekend."

"I think I'm the one you should be feeling sorry for," Tori complained, "I have to look after her."

"Ooh girl!" he winced.

"Yeah," she nodded grimly.

"Are you ok after… everything?" he asked clumsily.

"Yeah," she nodded with a brave smile, "thanks for asking." She patted his arm gently.

_Black box theatre_

Class was almost over; it was their final period of the day so the kids were pretty much finished for the week. Cat and André were together on stage; the backdrop was of a jungle with Cat playing a tourist to André's local tribesman.

"Ow. Ow. Ow! I'm so scared," the girl wailed, laid on her back with the boy staring over her.

In an unusual, slightly African accent he tried to reassure her, "Try to relax. Everything is going to be alright."

"You have to get me to a doctor," she urged.

"Shh! If that spider bites your eyeball, you could die in minutes," he tried to soothe her.

"Oh, man, please get it off my eye." They held her right eye wide open and he peered closely.

"I'm going to try," he leaned in towards the girl's eye as if he was holding a pair of tweezers. "Now, shh. Don't move and don't make a sound."

Right on cue, Tori's phone rang, causing the whole class to jump violently, including the two on stage.

"Aah!" Cat wailed; André leapt away from her.

"Oh, man, the ringing is back! Ah!" Sikowitz jumped around the back of the theatre slapping at his ears.

"Sikowitz, hey, Sikowitz," Jade tried to placate her favourite teacher.

"Please," Robbie joined the attempts to settle him.

With the attempts failing, Beck and Jade yelled together, "Sikowitz!"

"Yes?" the eccentric prompted.

"That was a phone," the curly-haired ventriloquist pointed out.

The teacher, having identified the source of the ringing, stood behind Tori. "Whose?" he asked.

The embarrassed brunette raised her hand a fraction, "Mines," she admitted uncomfortably.

"Tori," he complained.

"I swear, I thought I had it on vibrate."

"Class is no place for swearing or vibrating," he informed her.

Still in character, André suggested, "Maybe we should start the scene over."

"Can we?" his red velvet-haired colleague pleaded.

"No, Cat, it's too late," Sikowitz countered. "By now, that spider would have bitten your character's eyeball, and you'd be dying a spastic, painful death."

"Thanks a lot, Tori," she complained sarcastically at her friend.

"Well, we have about four minutes left," the teacher glanced at his wrist; he wasn't wearing a watch. "Why don't we all chat about our weekend plans? Robbie, I assume you have none."

Freddie frowned a little at the insult; he hadn't forgotten what Robbie had said about Cat in the past but he didn't think it appropriate of Sikowitz to be insulting his students like that.

The bespectacled teen stuttered in protest for a few seconds before conceding, "I don't."

"Rex?" the teacher turned to the puppet.

"I'm gonna par-tay with a couple of girls from Northridge."

"Northridge girls?" Sikowitz was amused. "That should be an adventure."

"Heh heh, what can I say?"

"Hey, guess what Jade and I are doing tonight?" Cat offered; the class looked at her in silence for a few seconds. "There's this new place in Los Feliz. It's called Karaoke Dokie and they have singing competitions on the weekends so Jade and I are gonna do a song."

"I'm picking the song," the gothic girl snapped irritably.

"Jade's picking the song," her friend agreed happily.

"Can Rex and I come sing too?" Robbie ventured.

"Sure," Cat agreed.

"I told you, I got the Northridge girls," his puppet complained.

"They can come watch."

"Nah, man, Then they're gonna want us to buy 'em food and beverages."

Freddie palmed his forehead and shook his head at the sight of the puppet and its handler arguing.

"So?" the ventriloquist prompted.

"They're from Northridge," it pointed out. "I don't wanna spend money on 'em."

"Aw, I wish I could go to Karaoke Dokie," Tori lamented, picking up her bag, knowing that she needed to make a quick getaway after the bell.

"Why can't you?" Beck asked curiously.

"Does it matter why she can't?" Jade asked irritably.

"I was just wondering why she..." her boyfriend tried to defend himself; the dark brunette interrupted, shooting the new girl a smirk as she did.

"What, you need Tori around to have a good time? Is that your point? I'm not good enough for you anymore?"

"Dude..." Beck wanted to placate her.

"What?" she demanded.

"Jade," Sikowitz called in a calming voice, "you're lucky to have Beck. Don't be such a gank."

"Really Sikowitz?" Freddie leapt to his feet and rounded angrily on the acting teacher. "You REALLY think it's appropriate to call one of your students names like that?"

"When she'd behaving like..." he tried to justify his language; Freddie wouldn't let him.

"You'll be lucky if she doesn't file a formal complaint for you saying stuff like that about her in front of a room full of witnesses." Jade raised her eyebrows a little at him; she hadn't considered complaining about him but had to admit that Freddie was making very valid points.

Sikowitz cleared his throat uncomfortably. "Yes well..." he coughed again.

In an effort to defuse the simmering tensions in the room, Cat asked Tori, "So, why can't you come?"

"Oh, Trina's getting her dumb wisdom teeth out today and guess who gets to spend the entire weekend taking care of her?"

"Okay, um, is it someone famous?" the redhead asked; Freddie and Jade traded helpless looks.

"No, me," Tori clarified.

"Why can't your parents take care of her?" the former Seattle native asked curiously.

"'cause they're gonna be in Santa Barbara," she told him.

"What for?" he was surprised that they'd just up and leave their child after such a thing.

"So they don't have to take care of Trina," she elaborated.

"Can't blame 'em," Beck reasoned.

"Shucks to be you," Jade echoed.

In an annoyed but playful voice, Tori fired, "Gank."

Jade grinned back; Freddie, meanwhile, pinched his nose and shook his head. The bell rang and Sikowitz freaked out again.

"Now, whose phone is that?" he demanded.

"That's the bell," the songsmith pointed out.

"Oh," he calmed down. "Bye."

Freddie waited for Cat to collect her things; she caught up with him and Jade on the way out. "I'll see you guys later; I'll need to call home quickly after work before I head to the club. Hopefully I'll be there for around 8:30," he told them.

"I don't think we'll be there much earlier," Jade reasoned. "Beck's picking us and André up when _he_ finishes work so it'll probably be a little after 8 when we get there."

A grinning Cat added, "We're going to hang at Jade's before we go."

Jade looked less than happy at the idea.

"Urgh, I have to go," Tori complained; her mood was falling further at the talk of the evening's plans. "I have to go to the dentist with Trina."

"We'll see you in the morning," Beck told her; Freddie waved as she left.

* * *

The Slap Mobile

Tori Vega: OMG. Trina just got her wisdom teeth out. MOUTH BLOOD! BLECCHH

Mood = DISGUSTED

* * *

_Pear Store_

_189 The Grove Drive, West Hollywood, CA_

Freddie grimaced as he read his friend's update during his break; he could only imagine what the brunette was going through dealing with her already high-maintenance sister. He was enjoying his shift, sat behind the Brilliance Bar where he didn't have to deal with customers; a number of items had been checked in earlier in the day and several of them had found their way onto his work station. Methodically plodding through them was an enjoyable, therapeutic way of spending his time which had allowed him to forget about the issues that he had with Sikowitz. He smiled as he thought about the evening ahead of him, meeting Cat and the others at the karaoke club. The thought of her and Jade singing was certainly an appealing one for him.

_Karaoke Dokie,_

_Los Feliz_

Jade had had a somewhat less enjoyable evening so far; the dark brunette, this evening sporting her dark blue hair extensions, had become increasingly irritated with Cat's chatter during their afternoon of hanging together – so much so that she actually had them make a start on their homework in an attempt to distract the smaller girl from her musings. It had worked well, and the pair had accomplished quite a bit, by the time welcome relief arrived in the form of Beck and André.

"Hey girls, you ready to go?" the long-haired teen called in his usual, relaxed voice.

"Almost!" Cat leapt up and dashed to the den, where she changed into a sparkling, silvery top and a pair of her shortest daisy dukes. She grinned at the thought of the effect that they typically had on Freddie; as much as he tried to hide it, in the interests of chivalry, he loved to stare at her legs and she was happy to admit that she loved it when he stared at them.

The four arrived at the club and entered to see Robbie and Rex sat by the club's raised stage with a couple of, in Jade's opinion rather hideous, girls from Northridge; they were chatting animatedly and the girls seemed to be laughing at the puppet. The two girls signed up to sing, noting as they did that Robbie and Rex were also on the list, while Beck and André bought some sodas for the group.

"Ok," the club's MC called, next on the list tonight are Robbie and Rex! Give it up for them!"

The club's patrons applauded politely amid some confused looks as the odd couple took the stage; Robbie sat on a chair with Rex in his lap and positioned a microphone by the puppet's mouth. The music started and they began to sing.

Midway through their song, Freddie walked through the door, quickly spied his friends sitting close by and made for their table; he sat down, giving Cat a quick kiss and patting her bare leg. She giggled at his playful nature and he took the opportunity to admire the girl's legs and very short shorts. He was a little disappointed to have missed most of Robbie's performance, but thankful to at least catch the end.

"_Move your body right next to mine_," the ventriloquist sang.

"_Feel the beat and we're lost in time_," his puppet added.

"_I'm yours and now you are mine_," Robbie alternated the next line.

"_Forever_," It was Rex's turn.

"_Baby_," his handler finished the line.

"_All the things that we want to do_."

"_Never gonna let go of you_."

"_Meant for me and I'm meant for you_."

"_Forever,_"

"_Baayyy-beeee_," Rex finished to wild cheering and applause from the club, and particularly from their friends.

"Thank you," Robbie seemed overwhelmed by the reaction. "Thank you guys very much."

"That was for my two ladies from Northridge, Christie and Bella," Rex name-checked. "Give 'em some love." The crowd responded by politely applauding the pair.

"Hey. Thank you. See you, guys," Robbie left the stage.

"Hey guys. I almost missed Robbie then?" Freddie greeted his other friends properly now that the teenager's song was over.

"They were really good," Cat enthused; he nodded, appreciative of the part of their performance that he had caught.

"I'm gonna get a soda. You want one Freddie?" Jade offered.

"Yes please," he accepted gratefully.

"Get me one?" André asked.

"No." The gothic teen headed for the bar with that parting shot.

"She can be a gank," the songsmith complained.

"You have no idea," her boyfriend agreed.

Freddie snapped his head angrily towards the boys; in a low but furious tone he challenged, "Really? You're letting people say stuff like that about your girlfriend? She may be lucky to have you but YOU'RE way luckier to have a girl like her. I'd stop taking that for granted if I was you."

"Dude! You don't know what she's like," Beck kept his voice light but was clearly irritated by the tech genius's words.

"I'm well aware of what a great girl Jade West is, thank you very much," he replied in a cold voice. "Here I was thinking that when I called out Sikowitz I just jumped the gun and stole your thunder. Were you even _going_ to defend _your girlfriend_ from what he said about her?"

Beck frowned at him but, before he could respond, the MC interrupted.

"Okay, How 'bout Robbie and Rex, huh? One of the most amazing ventriloquist acts I've ever seen."

Beck turned to face the odd couple; Freddie shook his head in disgust.

"Yay! Whoa!" The Northridge girls could be heard cheering their 'boys' from across the room.

"Ventriloquist?" Robbie asked, turning to his puppet.

"What's he talkin' about?" Rex demanded before turning to Christie and Bella, "Ah, heh-heh. You can join my team. I call it Rex's all hot girl volleyball squad."

The temporary peace at the Hollywood Arts juniors' table was broken by the arrival of two girls; one brunette and the other blonde. Freddie and Cat looked in shock at the blonde; the boy felt amazed by her audacity.

"First time here?" the brunette asked Beck; he looked behind him as she took Jade's seat, thinking that she was talking to somebody else.

"Um, yeah," he answered her upon concluding that it _was_ him to whom she was talking.

"If you get nervous, I'll hold your hand," to prove the point she took it; he used his free hand to pry it off awkwardly.

Cat broke the mounting tension by interjecting, "I get nervous when my brother eats things that aren't food." She turned to her still-shaken boyfriend and added, "Seriously, I think He ate my charm bracelet."

"What's with you?" the blonde asked Freddie. "You look like you've seen a ghost!"

The former Seattle native let out a quick relieved breath; the voice gave away that she _wasn't_ who he thought she was. "You just look _so_ much like my ex-girlfriend, Lindsey," he told her.

"Well I'm Tara," she introduced herself before smiling confidently. "And is that a good thing?"

"Not really; she shattered my heart into a million tiny pieces and it's only this awesome girl," he squeezed Cat's hand; she giggled and leaned into him. He gave her a grateful look, "that put it back together for me."

Tara frowned at their exchange. Meanwhile, across the table...

"You have insane hair," the brunette admired Beck's locks and ran her hand through them; he took her hand from his head but patted it on the table. "Yeah, uh, my hair was normal and then one day it just went insane. Sad story."

"I like your story," the girl enthused.

"Um, hi. Miss?" Cat disturbed her.

"What?" the brunette snapped.

"He has a girlfriend," the redhead pointed out.

"I don't see her."

Jade returned at that moment; with difficulty she resisted the temptation to pour hers and Freddie's drinks over brunette. Instead she barked, "Turn around." The girl complied. "Now you see her."

"I don't see much," the teenager retorted confidently. Freddie stood, ready to support his friend _somehow_, he just wasn't sure quite how.

"O-kay, um, um.." André tried to smooth things over. "Hey, did you know that karaoke comes to us from the Japanese?" All eyes turned to him in confusion but he _had_ succeeded in turning down the tension a fraction.

"Yeah, how great is Japan?" Beck echoed.

"Right? Good people," his songsmith friend enthused.

Tara wasn't in the mood for such conversation; she felt disgusted, having been shot down by Freddie, and spotted the dreadlocked teen's coat. "Hey," she called to her friend, "check out dude's jacket."

"Ohh," the brunette spotted the insignia, "Hollywood Arts. The school for… wannabes," she smirked at the kids.

"You know, you might _wannabe_ shuttin' your face there," Jade pointed out.

"Really?" the other challenged.

"Really," Jade confirmed.

André tried again to act as peacemaker. "Huh," he mumbled, before raising his voice, "Hey. Look what they got on the menu, Buffalo nuggets. Well, that's good news," before finishing in a quieter voice and with an embarrassed chuckle, "not for the buffalo."

"So, Hollywood Arts," the brunette challenged. "You girls gonna sing tonight?"

"Well, we didn't come for the buffalo nuggets," the black-clad teen retorted.

"But we are gonna get some, right?" her boyfriend asked.

"I don't care," she snapped at him before turning to her antagonist. "And yeah, we're singing tonight."

"Awesome," Tara smiled.

"So are we," her friend informed them.

"I like Japan," Cat spoke up all of a sudden, "except my brother got stabbed there." The others turned to her in surprise and confusion. "It was an accident," she assured them, "he's better now."

"Is he?" Freddie asked excitedly. "That's great!" He knew, of course, how tough times had been for the Valentines recently with the boy and his many issues.

"Well, he's over that," the redhead amended. "He still has some other issues they're trying to fix though. Are buffalo nuggets spicy?"

"No, sweetie," he smiled, "they're not too bad, unless you get a hot sauce with them."

The girl gave him her most simpering smile. "Oh, 'kay 'kay."

Tara leaned close to André and demanded, in a low voice, "He's dating THAT?"

The boy just shrugged.

Across the club, Robbie was trying to impress the Northridge girls. "So, the lady says to the fisherman, 'maybe you should try putting a worm on the hook.'"

Christie and Bella just looked blankly at him so he repeated, in a more enthusiastic voice, "A worm on the hook."

"They heard you, man. You told the joke wrong," his puppet complained.

"I did not," he hissed back.

"Look here," Rex turned to the girls. "See, the lady said to the fisherman, 'that worm's not at school, he's playin' hooky.'" The two girls laughed uproariously. "See what they do? Take notes," he told his handler before turning back to the Northridge pair. "Drink your beverages. Yeah. Mm-hmm."

Cat, meanwhile, was admiring Jade's purse. "I like your purse," she told her friend.

"Thanks."

"What is this?" The girl felt the soft pelt.

"Monkey fur," the brunette answered.

"Oh." The red velvet-haired teen set the item down again.

"Alright peepers," the MC called. "We have a singing contest goin' on here. Next up are a couple of Karaoke Dokie regulars... Hayley Ferguson and Tara Ganz!" The patrons applauded the kids' antagonists; Cat and Jade, meanwhile, threw unpleasant looks at them.

"Enjoy us," the brunette, Hayley, told them.

"Enjoy my monkey fur," Jade waved her purse at the pair.

"Okay, girls," the MC called to them as they got on stage. "Choose your poison."

"We're going to sing 'Number One'," the brunette declared.

"Ooh, the hit by Ginger Fox! Alright, here it comes. Let's juice 'em up!" He started the music track.

Tara held the microphone to her mouth and cried, "Let's get this started!"

In an off-key voice, Hayley began, "_Hello? Is everybody watchin'? Before I get the party started. You know you wanna be invited; step right up and get a taste of what you're bitin'_."

Tara joined in and together they continued, "_Feel the groove when we move I'm the centre. Get it right every night like we're meant to._"

"_When it all goes…_" Tara began.

"_Down_," Hayley added.

The blonde continued, "_I need to tell ya_."

Together they sang, "_You're gonna love me, you're gonna tell me that you're ready to go; I'm already there, look up in the air 'cause I'm the star of the show. _

_I'm number one, baby, always number one, baby; so forget what you've heard, this is my world_."

Freddie leaned towards Jade; Cat was sitting between them and he addressed the pair with a smile, "Well at least I know it's DEFINITELY not Lindsey; I may hate her but that girl could sing! Tara can't."

The two girls smiled at him but looked to one another and traded worried looks at his continuing attitude towards his ex-girlfriend.

"_So forget what you heard, this is my world_," the girls on-stage prepared for their finale.

"_My world revolves around me_," Hayley sang.

"_Oh, oh, so forget what you heard, this is my world_," Tara added.

"_My world revolves around me_," the brunette repeated.

"_My world_," her friend echoed before they finished together,

"_My world_."

Some people cheered, along with a smattering of polite applause for the duo.

"Whoo!" the MC enthused.

"Yeah," Jade called, "we're clapping because it's over!"

Cat giggled and nudged her friend playfully. Beck, however, took a different view, shushing her, which caused Freddie to openly shake his head.

"What?" Beck demanded in a hot whisper.

"You're not going to support her at all?" The shorter teen challenged.

"I'm trying to keep her out of trouble," he insisted; Freddie gave a disbelieving shrug and turned back to talk to his own girlfriend.

"So, I was just standin' in line," Rex was telling Christie and Bella, "gettin' ready to order a pizza when this dude in a sport coat walks up to me and goes, 'pardon me, do you know where I could purchase some golf clubs?' And I'm all, 'Back off, man, I don't wanna talk to you.'" The girls laughed at his anecdote and, with Robbie's help, he nudged their food closer to them. "Eat your fries," he urged them.

"Alright, all right," the MC announced. "Next up in this singin' competition we've got Jade West and Cat Valentine." The two climbed up onto the stage to huge applause from their Hollywood Arts friends. "Okay, girls, what you gonna throw down?"

"We wanna sing _Give It Up_," Cat informed him.

"Alright, a little R & B action toni-igh-igh-ight."

"Yeah, just play it," Jade demanded; he complied.

The two started at the back of the stage; Jade spun to face the audience as she began, "_Some day I'll let you in, treat you right drive you outta your mind_."

Cat took up the song, "_You never met a chick like me, burn so bright, I'm gonna make you blind_."

The two turned to face one another and continued in tandem, "_Always want what you can't have; is it so bad if you don't get what you wanted? Make it feel good as I whip you into shape yeah boy let's get it started_.

_Give it up, you can't win 'cause I know where you've been, such a shame you don't put up a fight. That's a game that we play at the end of the night, it's the same old story but you never get it right. _

_Give it up_.

_Come a little closer; come a little closer, baby, baby_." Cat walked over to Freddie and jiggled a little in his direction, a flirtatious grin on her face.

Jade began the second verse alone, "_So stop trying to walk away, no, you won't ever leave me behind_."

Cat took over, "_No, you better believe that I'm here to stay_,"

"_That's right_," her friend added.

"_'cause you're the shade and I'm the sunshine, oooo-ohhh_," the redhead continued.

Jade joined in again and together they sang, "_Look at me boy 'cause I got you where I want you isn't it so exciting? Will it shake you when I break you? Take the back seat boy, 'cause now I'm driving_.

_Give it up, you can't win, 'cause I know where you've been, such a shame you don't put up a fight. That's a game that we play at the end of the night, it's the same old story but you never get it right. _

_Give it up_.

With only two exceptions, Hayley and Tara, the whole club was impressed with the girls' efforts; the MC was leaping around his both, dancing to their song choice.

"_Hey-e-e, hey-e-e, hey-e-e, ooh-ooh_," Cat warbled.

"_Come a little closer, come a little closer, baby, baby_," the two sang_. _"_Come a little closer, come a little closer, baby, baby. Come a little closer, come a little closer, baby. Yeah, you are my baby and I'll make you crazy tonight._

_Look at me boy 'cause I got you where I want you, isn't it so exciting? Will it shake you when I break you? Take the back seat boy 'cause now I'm driving. _

_Give it up, you can't win 'cause I know where you've been_," Jade bent down to the irritating girls' table, picked up some of their salad and flung it back onto the plate, spreading the stuff around the table and caused them to recoil in mild fear. "_Such a shame you don't put up a fight. That's a game that we play at the end of the night, it's the same old story but you never get it right. _

_Give it up! Oh-oh-oh, yeah_."

Their song was over; huge whooping and cheering came from the entire audience; Freddie jumped onto stage to hug his girlfriend; the couple pulled Jade willingly into a group hug with them. The gothic teen then waved at Hayley and Tara as she dismounted the stage; they snarled back at her but, completely unperturbed, she walked over to Beck and kissed her boyfriend, knowing full well that Hayley was watching.

"We go to school with them, that's what's up," Rex informed his girls proudly.

"Yeah, yeah, baby, What about that, right?" the MC enthused. "Okay, that's everybody on the list. So, now, to announce tonight's Karaoke Dokie winner, here's the owner of the joint, the man who signs my checks... Joey Ferguson."

Polite applause greeted a smiling, balding man as he took the stage holding a trophy; a crystal microphone with the Karaoke Dokie logo on a plinth underneath it.

"Thanks, everyone," he acknowledged the crowd. "A lot of great singers here tonight, huh?"

The audience clap their agreement. "Yeah!" someone called out.

"But I think two girls really stood out." Freddie smiled proudly and patted Cat's arm; she and Jade exchanged confident smiles. "So, tonight's winners are... Hayley and Tara!"

The two girls stood, cheering; Cat, meanwhile, sat open-mouthed in annoyed astonishment and Jade looked to the owner in disbelief. Freddie shook his head in disgust while the rest of club sat in stunned silence.

"Hey, are you wazzin' me?" Rex demanded.

"Rex," Robbie tried to shush him.

"Those scrunges can't sing," the puppet pointed out.

"Come on, man," Beck implored.

"These girls got ten times more applause than them," André gestured to his classmates.

"Just sit down," an annoyed Hayley snapped into the microphone.

"I'll sit you down," the dreadlocked teen threatened.

"Hey, hey, I own the club, so, I decide who wins," Mr Ferguson pointed out with finality.

"Thank you, dad," the brunette smiled

"Dad?" Jade asked, looking at them; Hayley just smirked at her.

The Hollywood Arts gang turn to one another; "Dad!" they shouted in unison, throwing their hands up.

"Wait," Cat said, "why would she call him dad unless..." the cupcake lover grabbed her boyfriend's arm. "I bet he's her father!" Freddie pinched his nose again and closed his eyes.

"Fix, fix!" Rex heckled; the audience began to boo and jeer their agreement with his sentiments.

"Hey, hey, we won 'cause we rock," Hayley argued.

"Yeah, don't believe everything your daddy says," Cat snapped.

"Like when he tells you you're pretty," Jade sniped.

The two girls on-stage gasped; Rx laughed. "Woooo."

"Yeah," Robbie cheered.

"Testify," his puppet finished.

"Okay, that's it, you guys are banned from singing here ever again," the brunette decided.

"Yeah, like we care," Jade shot back.

Beck, perhaps annoyed or perhaps in an attempt to prove Freddie wrong, stood up. "Come on," he urged the group, "let's get outta here."

"Yeah, let's bail," the short-haired boy agreed.

However, at that moment, the group's waitress arrived, bearing armfuls of food. "Okay, I have your nachos, your sliders, and the buffalo nuggets." She set them down on the table.

"I say we get outta here, right after we finish this food," André proposed; the others agreed and sat down.

"Right after," Cat agreed.

"Yeah," Beck spat.

"Pass the ranch dressing," the songsmith demanded angrily.

"Here," Jade slid it across the table.

"Ketchup," Cat prompted.

"Coming at you," her boyfriend handed it to her.

"Ahh," she growled angrily.

Freddie helped himself to one of the buffalo nuggets. "These are delicious," he complimented.

Beck took a bite from one. "The best," he agreed.

"What are we going to do about this?" Cat asked as the quintet left the club together half-an-hour later.

"What can we do? Her daddy owns the club and he's gonna uphold your ban," Beck conceded.

"There has to be some way around it – or to teach these girls a lesson," Freddie commented thoughtfully.

"I have an idea," Jade told her best friend in a low voice. "But we're going to need help."

"Who from?" the redhead asked in curious excitement.

"Just be ready around 11 tomorrow morning; the guys are going to check on the Vega sisters and we're going to be there too."

"Oh, 'kay 'kay," she nodded. "Can we bring frozen yoghurt?"

Jade closed her eyes and let out a deep sigh.

_Vega residence_

_Saturday, 3__rd__ November 2010_.

* * *

The Slap

Tori Vega: I'm EXHAUSTED. My sister kept me up ALL NIGHT with her BLEEDING GUMS.

Mood – WRECKED

_FreddieB – feel for you Tori_V, I'll see you after work x_

* * *

The brunette grinned at her friend's reply; she wasn't really in the mood to be _too_ happy this morning after suffering with Trina all evening. Her mood had lifted slightly when André, Beck and Robbie arrived bearing Frozen Yoghurt for the sisters and been boosted further when Robbie had reluctantly regaled her with the story of how Christie and Bella had stolen his wallet while he and Rex were in the bathroom after paying their bill at the club. Tori described it as 'Classic Northridge Girls'; Freddie had been even less sympathetic, asking the boy why on earth he had left his wallet unattended with them.

"Oh, who's that?" the singer growled as the doorbell rang again; she opened the front door to her home, revealing Cat and Jade standing there.

"Hi," the redhead called brightly.

"Hello," Jade greeted her far more levelly.

"We brought you frozen yoghurt," Cat offered her the treat.

"Why?" She turned to the boys, battling to untie Trina (she had swung on Tori the previous night while the younger sister tried to give her her antibiotic; Tori's response had been to restrain and gag her). "You know, frozen yoghurt doesn't solve all the world's problems."

"I told you to bring her doughnuts," Jade told her best friend.

"Why aren't you being nice?" the red velvet-haired girl complained.

"And why do you look disgusting?" the dark brunette added.

"Trina," she pointed at her sister.

"Ohhh," the two newcomers muttered in comprehension.

"Listen, we need to talk to you," Jade got to the point of the girls' visit.

"It's really important," the redhead added.

"Alright," the light brunette conceded. "Let's go outside; I don't wanna be in here when they get that tape off her mouth." She headed into the front yard; Cat followed but Jade stopped to smuggle Beck's car keys from his jacket pocket before joining them. "So what's up?" she asked when the three of them were alone; she helped herself to a mouthful of fro-yo and prepared to listen to their tale.

"Last night we went to Karaoke Dokie," Jade began. _Way to go rubbing it in_, the singer thought in annoyance.

"And these two girls were really mean to us," Cat added.

"Like, Jade-level mean?" Tori sought to clarify

"No, not that mean, but really mean," Cat clarified.

Jade ignored the affront and continued the explanation. "And they cheated."

"So cheated," her friend agreed.

"And they were totally trashing Hollywood Arts," the dark-haired girl added.

"Really?" Tori was surprised that the school would be a target for these girls.

"What's on your arm?" Cat noticed the red stains.

"Trina's mouth blood," the taller girl answered.

"Eww."

"Cool," Jade loved the idea; Tori gave her a curious look.

"So how did they cheat?" She sought to change the subject.

"Well, you know how we said there was a singing competition?" Cat prompted; Tori nodded.

"Well, Robbie and Rex sang," Jade took up, "then these two ganks…" she shot Cat a look, "well to say they sang would be _very_ generous to them."

"They sucked," the little redhead echoed.

"And we sang and the crowd _loved_ us," the dark-haired girl enthused.

"We got, like, _way_ more applause than anyone else."

"But the winner was decided by the owner; and the owner of the club just happens to be the brunette's daddy."

"Her daddy?" Tori sought confirmation.

"Owns the place," Jade reiterated.

"I think that's why they won," Cat added unhelpfully.

"People were arguing, we said some things that they didn't like too much," the gothic teen smirked at the memory.

"And they told us we can't sing there anymore," the cupcake lover added sadly.

"They banned you both from singing there ever again?" Tori was incredulous.

"Yep," Jade nodded.

"Uh-huh," Cat agreed.

"Okay, I hate these girls." Tori was annoyed.

"Yeah," Jade backed her position.

"So do we," Cat made it unanimous.

"You wanna help us get back at 'em?" The dark brunette's devious smirk was in place.

"Tonight?" the red velvet-haired girl prompted.

"Oh, I gotta take care of Trina," the light brunette complained.

"Don't worry about that," Jade's grin was back.

"Jade has a plan," Cat noted.

"I don't know." Tori was unsure.

"You wanna stay here and take care of Trina's bleeding mouth?"

Tori opened the front door and looked inside; she saw Trina fighting with the boys as they sought to untie her and take care of her; she closed door again and turned to the other girls. "So, the plan?"

Cat and Jade smiled at her and led her to their car.

"Where are we going?" the younger Vega asked.

"Cat's place; you need to text André."

Following Jade's direction, Tori fired off "Need you, Beck and Robbie to take care of Trina til midnight," to her friend. Jade, allowing Cat to drive, fired off a text of her own to her boyfriend, "Hey, babe, you can't leave Tori's house. I took your car keys."

"I knew they'd say no," she explained, "now they have no choice," she finished with a satisfied grin.

* * *

The Slap Mobile

Tori Vega: Jade has a plan. Soon I will be HIDEOUS. Pics to come…

Mood – MISCHIEVOUS

_FreddieB – now I'm intrigued; see you in a few x_

* * *

_Valentine Residence, Hollywood Hills_

"Cat, are you sure about this?" Tori asked in concern, "I remember what happened the last time you put make-up on my face."

"Relax, see, this is _definitely_ Dermaglue," she proffered the bottle to the nervous brunette; Tori checked the label and nodded, feeling just a little calmer.

"Ok, so we need to give you a fake nose, a nice mole for your cheek, we have this hat with fake hair and some glasses and eyebrows," Cat continued.

"And you got all this from school? How did you even get in there this morning?" she pressed.

"Oh, one of the windows in Sikowitz's classroom doesn't close properly; it can be opened from the outside and then we snuck in that way," the redhead shrugged before turning back to her 'model'; she smiled as she applied the finishing touches. "And… we're done!" she cried triumphantly.

"Whoa," Tori gasped as she saw the transformation in the mirror; she wore a fancy black top hidden by a bulky blue cardigan and old, faded jeans. "Goodbye Tori Vega, hello… Louise Nordoff?" she turned to her partners in crime.

The two girls nodded at the name. "Sounds like a loser to me," Jade commented, a little harshly.

"So now what?" the lighter haired girl prompted.

"Now, we wait for Freddie; he's our ride tonight."

_Benson Residence_

The afternoon had trudged slowly by for Freddie; ever since reading Tori's first update of the day, during his morning break, he had been eager to pay the girl a visit to see how she was coping with her sister. Cat had called him over lunch to inform him of their scheme; he had been happy to be a part of it and was looking forward to meeting up with them a little later on. First, though, he needed to spend a little time with his mother, who had _also_ called him during the day and told him that she had news for him.

"Hey mom," he called as he entered his home.

"Oh hi Freddie, dinner's almost ready," Marissa replied. "Wash your hands and we can eat and then talk."

"Ok," he shrugged.

The two Bensons shared a healthy meal; Freddie ate without complaint as he was anticipating a better supper, comprising of the club's Buffalo nuggets and some of the rest of their selection. "So, what did you want to talk about?" he prompted.

"Not over dinner, Freddie," the head nurse complained, determined to observe the proper niceties and order of things.

After dinner, the two retired to the living room; finally Marissa was ready to talk.

"I spoke to my twin sister today," she began; Freddie nodded. He knew that the two spoke fairly often but didn't get to see one another too much given his aunt's profession. "Well, the good news is that this is the first holiday in a long time that she's not going to be working so she's invited us to spend Thanksgiving weekend with her."

"Really?" her son was a little surprised, albeit excited. As much as he loved the company of his girlfriend and other school friends, it would be nice to see his family, especially when he so seldom saw his aunt.

"I've booked our flights; we fly out on the Wednesday night and back the Sunday evening, so you'll be back in plenty of time for school."

He nodded again. "Sounds great; a weekend on the East Coast, I'm looking forward to it." His phone beeped; he drew it from his pocket and read the message. "That was Cat, wanting to know what time I'll be there. I guess I'd better get ready and go." He stood up, crossed the room to give his mother a quick kiss on the cheek and headed up to his room to change from his Pear Store uniform into a grey penny-T (Liquid Chicken emblazoned in yellow writing), his blue and white plaid shirt and medium blue jeans.

"I'll be back later, mom. See you then or in the morning," he called as he headed out.

"Alright, be careful," she urged him.

Freddie made the short drive to Cat's home and rang the doorbell; Cat, now dressed in a deep blue shirt and very dark blue skinny jeans, opened the door to let him in, having first given him a welcoming kiss and hug.

"Hi ladies; wow, Tori!" He could recognise his friend but was still taken aback by the transformation.

"Do I look like a singing star to you?" she challenged playfully.

"Not really," he agreed. "So, you girls ready to go?"

"Sure, lead the way," Jade urged; the quartet headed for his car.

_Karaoke Dokie_

_Los Feliz_

"Ok, I'll let you out here," the driver told Tori, "that way you won't be seen entering with us. I'll park up then me, Jade and Cat will head inside and grab a table not _too_ far away from you. With a bit of luck the plan will work and you can join us soon."

Tori nodded and got out of the Corolla as Freddie slowed to a stop half a block from the club; the remaining trio waved to 'Louise' as they pulled away, searching for a convenient parking spot.

Tori entered the club; nobody gave a second glance to the unattractive-looking girl; she found an empty table in the corner, well out of everybody's way, and pulled out her book, covered with a custom-made dust jacket "_Coping with Failure_."

* * *

The Slap Mobile

Tori Vega: At a cool karaoke club. I look DISGUSTING. Love it :)

Mood – Pumped

* * *

Hayley and Tara were on the stage singing as the trio entered the club; they immediately spotted Tori at her table but pretended not to recognise her, in order to keep her disguise intact.

"_Oh, I'm in love, I'm in love_," the girls sang, "_sittin' here without your love, I'm in love_, _I'm in love_, _never live without your love. Why can't you see here inside of me? Everybody tells me now your love will only bring me down!_"

A smattering of applause greeted the conclusion of the girls' song; they smiled confidently and returned the microphones to the MC's station.

"Alright-tay," he declared, "that was our reigning champions, Hayley and Tara."

A cry of "Whoo" could be heard from a member of the audience; the two, however, were no longer paying attention; they had noticed some familiar faces and were making their way towards them.

"Okay," the MC announced, "we're gonna take a little fiver, so your MC can go pee." In response to the crowd's non-reaction, he continued in a downbeat voice, "That joke never gets a laugh."

"Oh, look who's back," Tara taunted as she approached the three Hollywood Arts students.

"I thought I smelled failure," Hayley added.

"Except for you," the blonde smiled at Freddie; she shot Cat a scathing look and her smile broadened as she addressed the boy again, "at least not if you traded up in the girlfriend department."

"Sorry; I'm happy with Cat and anyway, the resemblance is just too creepy." He shuddered at the thought as it mingled with memories of Lindsey.

"Looks like if you can smell failure then you must be sniffing yourself," the redhead fired smugly at them; she turned to Jade. "Good, right?"

"For you," her best friend conceded.

"You know you can't sing here," the brunette reminded them.

"Why would we want to?" Cat snapped.

"So, your daddy can let you win again?" Jade suggested.

"He picked us because we sang the best," the younger Ferguson protested.

"Oh, my God," Jade was starting to feel that she believed her own crap.

"That is so tight," Cat shook her head.

"Sweetie, Tight means good," Freddie muttered in a low voice.

"That is so… not tight," she amended.

"And guess what?" Jade set the plan in action. "If the audience picked the winners here any person in this place would beat you morons."

"Anyone... Morons," the redhead echoed.

"But you'd be too scared to do that, right?" the dark brunette goaded.

"We're not too scared to let the audience pick the best singer," Tara snapped back.

"Nope," her friend agreed.

"Then do it," Jade challenged.

"And if we win?" Hayley prompted; the two Hollywood Arts girls looked at one another.

"You can make out with Jade's boyfriend," Cat offered.

"What?" her friend yelped.

"She likes his hair," the redhead elaborated.

"So do I."

"Well I knew it wasn't his personality that you were drawn to," Freddie muttered; he was a little thankful that the girl didn't hear his comment.

"Then I get him as well," the blonde gestured to Freddie. "Worried?" she smirked at Cat.

"No," the gothic teen snapped.

"_I_ am…" Freddie whispered; Cat patted his arm reassuringly.

"And if you lose?" Jade turned to Cat as if in thought.

"Um, you have to babysit a girl we know."

"Pfft!" the blonde thought it would be an easy assignment.

"Fine," her friend was equally confident.

"Good," Cat was happy that the deal was done.

"So, pick someone to sing against you," demanded Jade.

"Alright, we'll pick..." Tara scanned the room; her eyes settled on Tori, still appearing to be reading "_Coping with failure_". She and Hayley smiled at one another.

"Her," the brunette nominated, causing their foes to trade conspiratorial grins.

"Oh, come on, not her," Cat complained theatrically.

"At least pick someone who has a chance," Jade echoed.

"You said any person in this place," Hayley reminded them.

"And, um, I think she's in the place," Tara agreed; she turned towards Tori and called, "Hey, Ugly Betty; time to sing."

Tori looked around then, realising that they were referring to her, pointed to herself and mumbled, "Me?" Hayley and Tara nodded; behind their backs Cat, Jade and Freddie grinned malevolently.

* * *

The Slap Mobile

Tori Vega: I'm about to… FREAK THE FREAK OUT, Get excited. Very ;)

Mood – TRIPLE PUMPED

* * *

The trio claimed a vacant table after the dispute ended; they chatted in a relaxed manner as Tori got ready for her performance, thought Freddie was extremely unnerved by the flirtatious smiles that Tara kept sending his way.

"_Love_ you pretending to be nervous there," Jade teased.

"Who's pretending? I trust Tori and she's way better than they are; it's just… if she _did_ lose…" he trailed off; Cat squeezed his hand and pulled him into a cuddle.

"Okay, we're doin' something a little special here tonight," the MC called. "You've just heard the melodious voices of our champions, Hayley and Tara. Well, they've picked a challenger to sing next. And then, you, the audience, are gonna pick a winner by your own applause. Are you guys down?"

The audience confirmed, by raucous applause, that they were, indeed, 'down' with the idea. "Alright. What's your name up at the mic there?"

"Louise Nordoff," Tori mumbled.

"Wow, that's a name," the MC observed amid laughter from the club's patrons. "What do you wanna sing tonight, Louise?"

"Um, I would like to sing, _Freak the Freak Out_."

"Really? Are you sure? That's a pretty intense tune," he attempted to dissuade her.

"I'd like to sing it now, please."

"Alright," he conceded with a sigh, here comes Louise, singin' _Freak the Freak Out_."

As the introduction began, Tori began to dance a little to the music; a member of the audience called out, "Come on, Louise!" in sarcastic tones.

The club owner's daughter and her friend smiled confidently at HA kids; Cat looks back at them.

"Don't make that face," Jade warned her.

"_Are you listening?_" Tori began. "H_ear me talk__,__ hear me sing. Open up the door__, __is it less, is it more? When you tell me to beware are you here, are you there?_" She pointed around the club, drawing more laughs from those who believed her to be hopelessly out of her depth._ "Is it something I should know, easy come easy go." _

She removed her hat and wig as she continued, "_Nodding in your head, don't hear a word I said. I can't communicate when you wait, don't relate_."

The glasses and false nose were next to be cast aside. "_I try to talk to you, but you never even knew_,"

The girl removed her cardigan to reveal the black, sparkly top; her cheek warts went and she ran her hands through her hair to give it a little more volume after the time it had spent piled under the hat and wig.

"_So what's it gonna be? Tell me can you hear me?_"

Looking once more like Tori Vega, the brunette removed the microphone from the stand and began to stride confidently around the stage.

"_I'm so sick of it, you're attention deficit; never listen, you never listen._"

Hayley and Tara looked towards the Hollywood Arts juniors in accusing shock; the trio shrugged back, feigning surprise at the girl's transformation.

"_I'm so sick of it, so I'll throw another fit; never listen, you never listen_."

The young couple got up from the table, urged Jade to do likewise and the three began to dance at foot of raised dance floor.

"_I scream your name, it always stays the same. I'll scream and shout, so what I'm gonna do now is freak the freak out_."

Tori jumped on to the table at which Hayley and Tara were sat as she continued, "_Whoa-oh-oh! __ W__hoa-oh-oh! __W__hoa-oh-oh! __W__hoa-oh-oh-oh! __W__hoa-oh-oh! Whoa-oh-oh! __W__hoa-oh-oh! __W__hoa-oh-oh-oh! _"

"Come on," she urged her friends, gesturing to them; the three climbed onto the dance floor to join her.

"_Patience running thin, running thin, come again. Tell me what I get opposite, opposite_." Tori left her friends and began to walk around the club as she continued, "_S__how me what is real; if it breaks does it heal? Open up your ear, why you think that I'm here_. _Keep me in the dark; are you even thinking of me? Is someone else above me? Gotta know, gotta know. What am I gonna do, 'cause I can't get through to you so, what's it gonna be? Tell me, can you hear me? I'm so sick of it, you're attention deficit_," she got right in Tara's face at this point. _"N__ever listen, you never listen. I'm so sick of it_," she threw an arm around Hayley; her fellow brunette was not happy. "_So I'll throw another fit_," now she was right in the owners' daughter's face, "_Never listen, you never listen. I scream your name,_" Tori returned to the dance floor, joining her three friends who were still there, having _a lot_ of fun watching her performance, "_it always stays the same, I'll scream and shout, so what I'm gonna do now is…_"

As one almost the entire audience concluded with her, "_Freak the freak out!_"

Those present broke out into huge, spontaneous applause; Freddie and Cat pulled the star into a group-hug before Jade gave her a double high-five which morphed into a partial hug; Hayley and Tara, meanwhile, tried desperately and unsuccessfully to quell the audience's tumult.

"Whoa, whoa, wait, wait," Joey Ferguson had taken the stage again.

"Wait for what?" Jade demanded.

"The crowd hasn't voted yet," his daughter pointed out; he gestured to her in agreement.

"Yeah. Okay, All those for Hayley and Tara," he enthused; the two girls applauded, as, briefly, did the MC. He stopped, embarrassed, as the sound petered out pathetically and turned away quickly. In a much more subdued voice, Ferguson muttered, "All those for Louise Nordoff."

This time, massive cheering and applause greeted the name; Cat and Freddie each raised one of their friend's hands in triumph; the two other girls bowed their heads in defeat.

The MC, with the contest over, put some music on; the trio were still on the dance floor and a couple of guys got up to dance with Tori and Jade; the dark brunette was happy to let them flirt with her, reflecting as she did on how much she enjoyed having a guy pay attention to her for a bit; she would later tell Freddie that it was nice to experience what Beck does and at least she didn't shove it in his face. Cat and Freddie, meanwhile, were dancing together happily.

"Well," Tori smiled as she and the others left the dance floor at the song's conclusion, "I guess we'd better go and get the guys… and introduce Trina to her new babysitters," she smiled evilly at Hayley and Tara, motioning them to come and join them. She turned to Freddie, "Will you drive me back there?"

"Take Beck's keys," Jade pulled them from her pocket, "then he can bring his car back as well."

"Am I too late? Have I missed everything?" Sikowitz shocked his students by racing through the door and appearing in their midst.

"Sikowitz? What are you doing here?" Jade asked in surprise.

"When you kids said you'd be singing over the weekend… and when I saw Tori's update that said she was at a karaoke club, I decided that I'd come along and join you all."

"But it's an under 18 club," Freddie pointed out; Sikowitz looked at him in an uncomprehending manner. "You're not under 18," he concluded the thought.

"They let me in so I'm here," the teacher replied simply.

"Great," the brown-haired boy muttered sarcastically, before turning to Cat. "If he's going to be here then I'm leaving." He didn't care that his acting teacher overheard.

"Freddie…" she began softly, gripping his arms gently.

"Is this because of class yesterday?" the balding adult enquired.

"Partly it's because you, a teacher, insulted one of your students – who happens to be my closest friend," the tech genius snapped back, "and don't think I've forgotten that you bailed on us at Maestro's a few weeks ago. You were supposed to be the _responsible adult_ and you left us to fend for ourselves," he concluded; disgust dripped from every syllable.

"Freddie, it's ok," the gothic girl tried to reassure him.

"No, Jade, it isn't. I have to suffer him at school but I am _not_ spending any time that I don't have to with him outside of school. So if he's going to be here then I'm going home."

"Bye then," Sikowitz folded his arms across his chest.

Freddie looked to Cat with a questioning expression; the redhead took a hesitant step forward and glanced to Jade. "I want to stay," she told him quietly.

Freddie nodded; he handed Jade his car keys. "I'm not leaving her alone," he told his confidant, "take Tori to hers, get the others, come back and I'll leave when you return."

Jade nodded, hoping that the boy would cool down by the time the round trip was completed; she and Tori led Hayley and Tara out to his car and headed for the Vega home.

The atmosphere remained frosty within the club. Sikowitz took a seat at the table that the group had occupied; Freddie excused himself and headed to the men's restroom, hoping to kill a few minutes there. He returned to see teacher and student talking and laughing together; a slight pain stabbed at his heart but he gritted his teeth and redoubled his resolve. A glance at his watch told him that the girls would be absent for a few more minutes yet so he walked to the table and, spotting a lull in the conversation, tapped his girlfriend's arm.

"Want to dance?" he asked.

"'kay 'kay," she smiled and allowed him to lead her back to the raised platform where they joined a knot of other teens for a couple of songs.

Finally Jade, Tori, Beck, Robbie and André arrived; the girls wore satisfied smirks while the boys looked relieved that their day of torture at the hands, feet and teeth of Trina had finally come to an end. Freddie waved to them before hopping from the stage and recovering his keys from Jade.

"You're really going to go just because he's here?" she asked in a low voice.

"I don't want to be around him for one second longer than I have to," he spat back in cold tones. She gave him a disappointed nod and he turned to see his sad-eyed girlfriend staring after him.

Freddie walked over to Cat and pulled her into a hug; he gave her a soft kiss and told her that he'd see her later before walking out of the club with his friends staring after him but unmoved.

"Well," Sikowitz commented nonchalantly, "I think it's my turn to sing," and he headed over to speak to the MC.

A few moments later, he was introduced and ready to start.

"_Hello, is everybody watchin'? Before I get the party started. You know you wanna be invited; step right up and get a little bite of Sikowitz_."

_Benson Residence,_

_Hollywood Hills_

"Freddie! You're home earlier than I expected. Is everything ok?" Marissa asked, delight morphing into concern at the downcast expression on her son's face as he walked through the door.

"Yeah, things are fine," he told her. "The night just took a bit of a turn for the worse so I decided to go; the others are still there. I think I'll get an early night."

"If you're sure," her fears increased as she watched him head upstairs.

_Karaoke Dokie,_

_Los Feliz_

"_Feel the groove when we move; I'm the centre. Get it right every night like we're meant to. When it all goes down I need to tell ya…_

_You're gonna love me__, __you're gonna tell me that you're ready to go. I'm already there, look up in the air 'cause I'm the star of the show. I'm number one, baby, always number one, baby. So forget what you've heard…_

This is my world."

The madcap teacher sat on a chair, tucking his feet under it and pulled down on a chain; water soaked him, resulting in massive cheering and applause; the Hollywood Arts kids chanted 'Sikowitz' and rushed towards him to celebrate his performance with him.

_Benson Residence,_

_Hollywood Hills_

Marissa knocked on her son's door; Freddie was sitting on his bed reading one of his text books but barely taking in a word of it.

"What happened?" the matriarch demanded.

He sighed and began to explain, talking about the incident at Maestro's in as much detail as he dared (while neglecting to mention to his mother that he and the others were committing fraud), simply pointing out that they went for a meal after the ping pong tournament, couldn't afford the bill and Sikowitz skipped out causing André and Tori to have to remedy the situation by singing for their supper. He then related what had transpired at the end of Friday's class, particularly that he had said it to Jade – and how good a friend Jade was to him.

"So she left too?" Marissa asked.

"No, Sikowitz is her favourite teacher; she'll forgive him anything it seems," he shook his head. "It looks like I'm the only one who's actually bothered by his antics – and I wasn't going to let him get away with it without saying anything and I don't want to be around him outside of school."

His mother nodded sympathetically.

_Sunday, 7__th__ November 2010_.

An unusually subdued and sleep-deprived Cat Valentine sat in her car outside the Benson's home; she eyed her boyfriend's Corolla nervously while she tried to gather up her courage. The couple hadn't really fought during their relationship; in fact she had never particularly experienced the feeling of fighting with a boyfriend as her relationships were usually over at that point.

In her peripheral vision the girl saw the blinds in the living room twitch a little; she gasped as the door opened and Mrs Benson strode down the driveway towards her. She opened the door hesitantly.

"Hi Freddie's mom," she greeted the older lady weakly.

"Cat," the Head Nurse returned. "Are you here to see Freddie?"

"Yes, if he wants to see me," she answered in defeat.

"Why wouldn't he?" Marissa seemed surprised.

"Well, after last night I wasn't sure."

"Go on, he's in his room."

Cat shuffled out of her car, locked it and followed Marissa into the house. She trudged up the stairs and knocked fearfully on her boyfriend's open door, relief spreading through her body as she saw him smile at the sight of her.

"Hey Cat, how are you?"

"I'm good… I think." In answer to Freddie's confused and concerned expression, she pressed on, "Is everything, y'know, ok between us after yesterday?"

"Yes," he confirmed in surprise, "why wouldn't it be?"

"Well because last night you went and I didn't want to."

"Oh that," he waved a hand airily. "Look, Cat, _I_ didn't want to be around Sikowitz and I'm surprised that the rest of you are ok with everything that he's done, but it's _your decision_. We're not going to agree on everything and nor should we. It doesn't mean that there's going to be a problem between us. You like Sikowitz and you can look past what he said about Jade and what he did at the restaurant; I can't."

"Jade didn't hold a grudge; why do you?" she asked curiously.

"I'm not prepared to just let people get away with treating me – or my friends – badly anymore."

"Because of Lindsey?" Cat asked quietly.

"She's a part of it," he confirmed, "but not the only reason; I refuse to be a door mat. But," he got up and walked over to her, squeezing her shoulders gently and looking into her soft, brown eyes, "how I feel about other people doesn't change how I feel about you, Cat. You don't need to worry about that; we're good."

She smiled; the vulnerability flooded into her eyes as tears began to shimmer in them. Freddie bent down to claim her lips and pulled her into his embrace.

* * *

**AN: Thank you for reading; I hope that you'll come back for the next chapter – and I hope that there will be a shorter update time between this chapter and the next one than I've been able to manage recently. In the meantime, please let me know what you thought of this chapter. PD.**


End file.
